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Artscope Magazine | November/December 2020

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ART BASEL SWITZERLAND 2019 DAY TWO: THE BEST OF UNLIMITED

// Art Basel Switzerland, Artscope Online, Exhibits, Featured, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

Unlimited, a sector of the Art Basel art fair, took up most of my second day there. Earlier in the day, at the Art Basel press conference, Marc Spiegler, the global director, pointed out that this year’s artists were more open-minded with broader practices than 10 to 15 years ago. He noted that “our old notions of borders are broken down.” Spiegler referred to art’s borders — those of materials and labels. It is difficult, if not impossible, to label installations — sculptures or paintings — with the overarching mixed media category prevalent, and installation being the preferred term to include sculpture and two-dimensional work. It seems that as new borders are erected and maintained between nations, art’s boundaries have widened to include diverse practices, subject matter and artists. That subject matter includes references to — current and in the recent past — events and … [Read more...] about ART BASEL SWITZERLAND 2019 DAY TWO: THE BEST OF UNLIMITED

COMMENTARY: THE BIENNIAL OF FEAR: THE WHITNEY BIENNIAL 2019

// Artscope Online, Featured, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

The Whitney Biennial reputedly seeks to represent the tenor of current American art. Toward that end, this Whitney Biennial presents novel concepts at representation and abstraction that contemporize past formal conceptualizations. With news coming at us so fast, it is difficult not to portray past events, relegating current topics to history. This Biennial is relevant and courageous in unveiling truth and reminding us of the importance of remembering the recent past and remaining informed of that past and its impact on the present. “Triple-Chaser,” 2019, Forensic Architecture’s documentary film of Warren Kanders’ firm, Safariland was well-presented and critical to current debate in the arts and museum community. Warren Kanders is the Whitney Museum board’s vice chairman and chairman and CEO of Safariland, the firm producing the tear gas that is the target of demonstrations by the … [Read more...] about COMMENTARY: THE BIENNIAL OF FEAR: THE WHITNEY BIENNIAL 2019

Re-stitching Pieces of the Past: Howardena Pindell’s ‘What Remains to be Seen’ at the Rose

// Artscope Online, Current Exhibits, Exhibits, Featured, Visual Arts

by Olivia MacDonald

Art is an extension of oneself, a release that travels from the mind, through the arm and out the fingertips to pour onto the canvas. After a car crash in 1979 that left New York-based artist, Howardena Pindell, with a dented skull and short-term memory loss, she began to explore her own body and identity, as well as the politically-charged environment that rejected, denied and broke her in the past, just because of her skin color. Art was a way to mend the wounds, both within and outside of herself, a way to heal. It was a way to embrace her blackness, her femininity and her capabilities. Pindell’s exhibition at Brandeis University’s Rose Art Museum, “What Remains to be Seen,” showcases much more than just what remains, but holds entire stories deep in the threads and paint of each piece. Her 1988 work, “Autobiography: Air (CS560),” incorporates the many parts and layers that … [Read more...] about Re-stitching Pieces of the Past: Howardena Pindell’s ‘What Remains to be Seen’ at the Rose

Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, Untitled, from the series “Bollywood Satirized.” Courtesy of the artist and sepiaEYE.

Not Remaining Silent: Confronting Gender Violence at Lesley

// Issue Articles, November/December 2018

by Suzanne Volmer

It is a damning statistic how often women are harassed, attacked or raped in today’s world. The current exhibition at Lesley University, “1 in 3: Comparative Perspectives on Gender Violence,” delves into that statistic. It examines prejudices that condition cultures to overlook the subjugation of women. In 1969, in a NOVA Magazine interview, Yoko Ono said, “Women are the Niggers of the World.” Today, 40 years later, like gunpowder shot over the bow of misogyny, the shocking salvo still meets with an audible gasp. A human tragedy is that everybody knows a woman [or is that woman] that has experienced sexual violence or harassment. The exhibit rides the wave of the #MeToo movement, which has kept violence against women at the forefront of public attention through media. The exhibition was organized by Lisa Fiore, Meenakshi Chhabra and Sonia Perez-Villanueva. “We share a determination … [Read more...] about Not Remaining Silent: Confronting Gender Violence at Lesley

LEFT: Faig Ahmed, Epiphany, from the “Liquid” series, 2016, handmade woolen carpet, 74” x 79”. Courtesy of the artist and Sapar Contemporary, New York. Image courtesy of Ahmed Faig Studio. RIGHT: Samira Alikhanzadeh, No. 10, from the “Double” series, 2010, digital print, mirror fragments and acrylic on board, 35” x 50”. Lent by Azita Bina Seibel.

The Shape of Birds: Bridging the Cultural Divide Through Art

// Issue Articles, November/December 2018

by J. Fatima Martins

“The Shape of Birds” takes the theme of displacement, remembrance and adaption from Nizar Qabbani’s poem “A Lesson in Drawing” which begins with “My son placed a paint box in front of me / and asked me to draw a bird for him. / Into the color gray I dip the brush / and draw a square with locks and bars. / Astonishment fills his eyes: / ‘...But this is a prison, Father. Don’t you know, how to draw a bird?’ / And I tell him: ‘Son, forgive me. / I’ve forgotten the shapes of birds.’” The artists in “The Shape of Birds” are from nine countries in the Middle East and North Africa: Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Azerbaijan. Some continue to live in their countries of origin, while others have immigrated to adopted homelands of Europe or the United States. The exhibition is arranged in three galleries: the large Ilgenfritz Gallery and its Corridor, the … [Read more...] about The Shape of Birds: Bridging the Cultural Divide Through Art

Yinka Shonibare’s “The American Library” installation at Cleveland Public Library’s Brett Hall.

REVIEW: FRONT INTERNATIONAL: CLEVELAND TRIENNIAL FOR CONTEMPORARY ART

// Artscope Online, Audio/Visual, Exhibits, Movie, Theatre, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

The FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, which opened on July 14, presented a new take on art exhibitions in this nation. In Cleveland, a city with multiple art venues, Akron and Oberlin with art, history and spaces of their own, 110 artists at 28 locations, including a Frank Lloyd Wright house, two churches and one decommissioned steamship, presented film, video, installation, painting, sculpture, performance and community art. Open until September 30, each venue contributed to a critical mass of art in three Northeast Ohio cities. The brainchild of Frederick Bidwell, an art collector on the board of The Cleveland and Akron Art Museums, FRONT refers, he said, to the Erie lakefront that Cleveland embraces, and to its standing at the forefront of art in the region. Artistic director Michelle Grabner, a celebrated painter and professor at the Art Institute of … [Read more...] about REVIEW: FRONT INTERNATIONAL: CLEVELAND TRIENNIAL FOR CONTEMPORARY ART