TRINITY
The Suburban Milwaukee
TRINITY instigates a triangulated conversation between three discreet bodies of works, while at the same time proposing a secular re-interpretation of the archetypical power structure “The Holy Trinity.”
The title jocularly references the Christian myth — which belongs to and informs the understanding of Western patriarchal society — opening it up to both ridicule and redemption. Through a blasphemous game of rock-paper-scissor the Trinity is challenged into becoming the figure of a Hydra — a snake woman with multiple heads belonging to the same body.
In this context Girard-Renard’s Gold is Gold performs the role of the father — the bearer of the law — in the contemporary form of the neo-liberal economy, displayed by satirical characters and situations. Brackman’s nomadic kiosk structures — which function as displays, partitions, and spaces, to present and conceal the objects and information exhibited, revealing relationships between imperialism and ethnic identity, textile and text — is the son, resiliently persevering in order to form a new narrative in A Beetle Fell In Love With A Caterpillar. By this logic, the (Un)Holy Spirit of Refusal works through Baggesen’s body of work, REFUSENIKS — a series of textile wearables, designed as a portable TAZ (Temporary Autonomous Zone), and a safety blanket survival strategy for the individual, coupled, and collective body under the new regime; it’s all play and no work — put it on and just say no!
TRINITY presents a triad of visual artists, bringing their different provenances into some of the larger political narratives of the modern era — such as the feminist movement, the Jewish diaspora, and the application of neo liberal ideology — each in their own way, with the communality of a staging that reflects the idea of an exhibition as a theatrical setting. Thus the visitor becomes the subjective “actress,” as it is through her traversing the installation, that she interacts and creates her own narrative out of the TRINITY.
Tainted Love
Le Confort Moderne
I don’t remember the first time I heard this Soft Cell hit; all the small town discos I used to hang out as a teenager were playing it. We’d aimlessly dance, focusing more on the glimpses of skin we’d catch and potential flirts, than on the music. Back then I didn’t know yet that it was a break up song. I didn’t know yet what a break up was.
In the independent practices
of both artists, the horse—in forms both real and mystical—has emerged as a complicated muse and a manifestation of the artists’ inquiries into subjectivity and selfhood.
In the independent practices
of both artists, the horse—in forms both real and mystical—has emerged as a complicated muse and a manifestation of the artists’ inquiries into subjectivity and selfhood.
I am the Horse
Goldfinch
Library of Refuseniks
6018 North
Chicago August 3, 2018
Dear fellow migrant/artist,
I would like to invite you to contribute one or more texts of your liking to the Library of Refuseniks,which will become part of the exhibition Living Architecture at 6018 North. The idea with the library is to present a personal and collective, porous and messy, archive of texts related to migration and the migrant. The history of The United States of America is one, not of migration history, but migration histories. (Not to mention herstories!)
Library of Refuseniks
Chicago Cultural Center
In Flux: Chicago Artists and Immigration
February 15 – May 10, 2020
First presented by 6018 North in spring 2019, under the title 'Living Architecture,' In Flux is a large-scale, multidisciplinary exhibition that highlights the influence and impact of immigrant artists on Chicago. The exhibition responds to the current political climate to highlight how Chicago was built with immigrant labor, particularly in the arts, and is continuously shaped today by exemplary immigrant artists. With over 20 contemporary artists, In Flux: Chicago Artists and Immigrationillustrates a living and evolving legacy between past and present work by Chicago immigrants in art and design.
Refuseniks at the Museum
Museum of Contemporary Art
The Long Dream
November 7, 2020 - May 2, 2021
Against the backdrop of a global pandemic and a renewed reckoning over racial justice and inequality, The Long Dream invites visitors to see the city of Chicago, the world, and themselves, through the eyes of more than 70 local artists whose work offers us ways to imagine a more equitable and interconnected world.
