Nov 2022-TT Session 22: NYC
THE TRANSART NOVEMBER 2022 NYC Residency included multiple workshops, talks and events. For me, three stood out: 1. CURATOR NICOLÁS DUMIT ESTÉVEZ RAFUL ESPEJO OVALLES' "ENGAGING INDECENCIA" EXHIBITION AND SESSION AT LESLIE-LOHMAN MUSEUM OF ART'S . The power of Estevez' vision is equaled by the artworks they included in the show. I particularly enjoyed a few of the conceptual fiber-based works in it. Of those, the stand outs for me were, "cosa" (from Morphylactic series) and "Red Velvet". And two of the several engaging exercises that Nicolas led for TT MFAs and PhDs involved writing. One was to write for fellow TT-er a description of an artwork that they did not necessarily see. For "cosa" (from Morphylactic series), I wrote: NYLON LIMBS Petticoats hang Stuffed Pink lace Corset with a Strand of thin Green beads Stitched to it Black and white Polka dotted fabric Repeating black and white Polka dotted fabric cut and Stitched to a tiny white Polka dotted dress Safety pinned to Salmon colored cords Stuffed into Lace with a String of blue White and grey Beads stitched to Blue dot stickers Stuck to the Petticoat all Protruding from a 4 x 8’ board Petticoats hang Stuffed Pink Corset with… Polka dotted Fabric and Salmon colored Lace with a String of blue Beads And for another exercise, Nicolas asked Transart PGRs and MFAs to write the description for an exhibition artwork as if it was our/their own work. Because when I saw "Red Velvet", and thought "oh, that could be my piece, I wrote the following:SELF PORTRAIT AS A RED VELVET DRESSMy current series, "Velvets", is motivated by my perceptions of color, feminine identities, and fibers. My palettes are influenced by fairy tale illustrations, with a particularly close look at a feminine heroine, Red Ridinghood, who as a child I identified with. In this piece, I use a prefabricated, or "found" red velvet dress with a full length front zipper to suggest that the character we know from childhood fairy tales has matured or "lost her hood" so-to-speak. Now we see her in full command of her intellect and sexuality as her dress is worn by a liberated, sophisticated contemporary woman. The title of the piece also makes an explicit art historical reference to one of Frida Kahlo’s early self-portraits, "Self Portrait in a Velvet Dress". In both Kahlo's and my work there is an implied psycho-sexual tension between the garment's color, style and texture, and the viewer's (fairytale) expectations. 2. NEO MUYANGA'S "A MASS OF CYBORGS" EXHIBITION AT THE CENTER FOR ART, RESEARCH AND ALLIANCES (CARA). In South African artist Neo Muyanga's first exhibition ever, I found all the three gallery installations gripping in various ways. The first was a 3-dimensional sculptural and digitally based portrait of South African singer, songwriter, civil rights activist Miriam Makiba. I loved it because it was visually quirky, smart, and because she was such a powerhouse singer who I saw/heard live once during the 1980s and once during the 1990s. One gallery, while conceptually wonderful, with in-the-round wall projections, overwhelmed me with blindingly bright projector lamps, so I could be in it only briefly (blog post pic was taken in this gallery). And the third gallery hosted recorded sounds with vocals (sometimes performed live but not at that time). Four microphones stood on an oriental runner in front of a devastatingly beautiful four-paneled wall projection that contained collaged images of maps, water/waves, and tondo like navigation devices. The installation suggested haunted slave trade ships and ocean travels. Overall I found Muyanga's work to be emotionally gripping.3. ”WHAT KNOTS KNOT KNOTS” CREATIVE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM AT THE 8th FLOOR, 17 W 17th ST. "What Knots Knot Knots" was a symposium MC'd by Dr. Alli Geremia who introduced several artists who presented segments of their practices. Some of which literally involved knotting and unknotting...i.e., Suzie Quillinan opened with a reading on the millennia old Andean khipus (lengths of knotted fibre used as a record keeping device) practice that is still used or referenced within Andean culture...and Jessie Harrod, who presented on her macrame and fiber artworks which she physically knots to realize sculptural and architectural installation pieces. And other artists conceptually or metaphorically work with "knotting" abstract ideas and/or past to present to future realities. For example, writer/reader Mirene Arsanios knotted together her own "mother tongue" from five languages that she speaks. And movement artist/film maker Zachary Favbri, who, having had his own improvisational movements in various Philadelphia locations filmed on a rainy day in 2018, edited or "knotted" clips together with soundscapes he created in an emotionally riveting feature length black-and-white art film. And 3D digital artist Coleman Collins, who's digital relief prints "knotted" together segments of his DNA/ancestral heritage. Similarly, Zeerak Ahmed concluded the symposium with her ancestral heritage of North Indian rag based vocalizations skillfully knotted to digitally manipulated sounds.