In the Presence of Absence
March 27–May 11, 2019
Curated by Jillian Steinhauer
Curatorial Adviser: Meghana Karnik
Inbal Abergil
Emily Carris
Leigh Davis
Valery Jung Estabrook
Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds
Nene Humphrey
Melinda Hunt
Jaamil Olawale Kosoko
M. Carmen Lane
Todd Shalom
Opening Reception: Wednesday, March 27, 2019, 6-8 PM
Featuring performance by Jaamil Olawale Kosoko
In the Presence of Absence explores the creative possibilities of mourning and looks at how people transmute suffering over the loss of loved ones into ways to live.
American society is grounded in the denial of grief. The United States was founded on the slaughter of Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans, yet there are no official, national monuments to attest to these crimes or honor their victims. Meanwhile, statues venerating those who perpetrated them—colonizers and missionaries, slaveholders and Confederate soldiers—abound, creating a sanitized and glorified narrative about the roots of this country. Who gets to be memorialized, and whose perspectives are privileged in that process? These unresolved historical traumas and the erasure of violence underpin our present political reality. Some Americans are mourning a version of the country they thought they knew, while others have been unable to escape the consequences of its myths for centuries.
American culture treats death as either a public spectacle or a highly private matter. But the attendant sorrow and pain don’t disappear, and time doesn’t heal all wounds; it just changes them. In the Presence of Absence posits that one way to move forward is to deal with our grief—to admit its existence, sit with it, make space for it, and work through it. To hold it in its constancy and discover what it can engender. The artists in this exhibition offer a place to start. For more information about the exhibition, read the full press release here.
The exhibition’s curatorial fellow is Nick Witchey. Melinda Hunt’s work appears courtesy the Canada Council for the Arts. In The Presence of Absence is dedicated to Henrietta, Suzanne, and Bronia.
EVENTS
Wednesday, March 27, 2019, 5-6 PM
Curatorial Walk-Through for In the Presence of Absence
Saturday, March 30, 2019, 2-3:30 PM
Artist Talk With Edgar Heap Of Birds
Thursday, April 11, 2019, 6:30-8:30 PM
Good Grief, with Todd Shalom
Thursday, May 2, 2019, 6:30-8:30 PM
Collective Grief: The Design, Politics, and Future of Memorials
Saturday, May 11, 2019, 2-4 PM
In the Presence of Absence: Exhibition Closing and Publication Launch
Melinda Hunt, Loneliness in a Beautiful Place, 2018. Video still.
A panel discussion co-presented by Reimagine End of Life. While grief is a personal feeling, memorials are a key way in which our society collectively mourns...
Left to right:
Inbal Abergil, Johnson from the series N.O.K. - Next of Kin, 2018. Photographic print, 16 x 20 in.
Inbal Abergil, Johnson from the series N.O.K. - Next of Kin, 2018. Photographic print, 30 x 40 in.
Inbal Abergil, Ortega from the series N.O.K. - Next of Kin, 2018. Photographic print, 20 x 30 in.
Inbal Abergil, Ortega from the series N.O.K. - Next of Kin, 2018. Photographic print, 20 x 30 in.
Inbal Abergil, Ortega from the series N.O.K. - Next of Kin, 2018. Photographic print, 20 x 30 in.
Inbal Abergil, Johnson from the series N.O.K. - Next of Kin, 2018. Photographic print, 16 x 20 in.
Inbal Abergil, Johnson from the series N.O.K. - Next of Kin, 2018. Photographic print, 30 x 40 in.
Emily Carris, Reclaimed vol. 2, 2019. Archival inkjet ink, linen fabric, linen yarn dyed with South Carolina indigo, silk thread dyed with madder root, naturally dyed silk, antique cotton batting from mid-1800s, cotton/polyester thread, catnip, cinnamon, goldenrod, rue, safflower, tansy, indigo, iron derived from early 1800s slave shackles, platinum & palladium print of the artist, cotton paper, salt from Arrowsic, ME, silk embroidery thread, 24k gold thread, coral, quartz, rock salt, antique Ashanti akua’ba, antique crochet doll (named Lucy), wooden peg holder, malachite, clay leaves, 81 x 128 x 24 in. (approximate)
Emily Carris, Reclaimed vol. 2, 2019. Archival inkjet ink, linen fabric, linen yarn dyed with South Carolina indigo, silk thread dyed with madder root, naturally dyed silk, antique cotton batting from mid-1800s, cotton/polyester thread, catnip, cinnamon, goldenrod, rue, safflower, tansy, indigo, iron derived from early 1800s slave shackles, platinum & palladium print of the artist, cotton paper, salt from Arrowsic, ME, silk embroidery thread, 24k gold thread, coral, quartz, rock salt, antique Ashanti akua’ba, antique crochet doll (named Lucy), wooden peg holder, malachite, clay leaves, 81 x 128 x 24 in. (approximate)
Leigh Davis, Reunions 2019. Wood, paint, masonite, moleskin, chair, mirror, 103 x 96 x 96 in.
Leigh Davis, Reunions 2019. Wood, paint, masonite, moleskin, chair, mirror, 103 x 96 x 96 in.
Leigh Davis, Reunions 2019. Wood, paint, masonite, moleskin, chair, mirror, 103 x 96 x 96 in.
Valery Jung Estabrook, Five Twenty Two #1-19, #21, #23-24, #26-28, 2018. 25 unique single-channel videos on 7” tablets, 5:22 total run time each, looped. Music composed by John Driscoll.
Valery Jung Estabrook, Five Twenty Two #1-19, #21, #23-24, #26-28, 2018. 25 unique single-channel videos on 7” tablets, 5:22 total run time each, looped.
Valery Jung Estabrook, Five Twenty Two #1-19, #21, #23-24, #26-28, 2018. 25 unique single-channel videos on 7” tablets, 5:22 total run time each, looped.
Left to right:
Inbal Abergil, Johnson from the series N.O.K. - Next of Kin, 2018. Photographic print, 16 x 20 in.
Inbal Abergil, Johnson from the series N.O.K. - Next of Kin, 2018. Photographic print, 30 x 40 in.
Inbal Abergil, Ortega from the series N.O.K. - Next of Kin, 2018. Photographic print, 20 x 30 in.
Inbal Abergil, Ortega from the series N.O.K. - Next of Kin, 2018. Photographic print, 20 x 30 in.
Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, Dead Indian Stories, 2007 - 2015. Monoprint, ink rag on paper, 15 x 22 in. each
Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, Dead Indian Stories, 2007 - 2015. Monoprint, ink rag on paper, 15 x 22 in. each.
Nene Humphrey, Circling the Center (Braiding Table), wood, wire, fabric, 36 x 36 x 33 in. (approximate).
Nene Humphrey, If You Were To Peer Into The Mourner’s Skull, HD single-channel video, 4:27 total run time, looped, poem by Tom Sleigh
Nene Humphrey, If You Were To Peer Into The Mourner’s Skull, HD single-channel video, 4:27 total run time, looped, poem by Tom Sleigh.
Nene Humphrey, Circling the Center (Braiding Table), wood, wire, fabric, 36 x 36 x 33 in. (approximate).
Left to right:
Melinda Hunt, Loneliness in a Beautiful Place: AIDS Burials on Hart Island, 2018. single-channel video, 8:21 total run time.
Melinda Hunt, After the Fire and Before AIDS: Sonia, 2017. Acrylic inkjet on Somerset paper, 49.5 x 40 in.
Melinda Hunt, Traveling Cloud Museum 2.0, 2019. Creative software and storytelling platform developed in collaboration with Studio AIRPORT and Inspire.nl
Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, Dead Indian Stories, 2007 - 2015. Monoprint, ink rag on paper, 15 x 22 in. each
Melinda Hunt, Loneliness in a Beautiful Place: AIDS Burials on Hart Island, 2018. single-channel video, 8:21 total run time.
Melinda Hunt, After the Fire and Before AIDS: Sonia, 2017. Acrylic inkjet on Somerset paper, 49.5 x 40 in.
Jaamil Olawale Kosoko, Accidental Saint (J.I.K.D.I.S.Y.G.I.B.), 2019. Mixed-media installation, dimensions variable.
Jaamil Olawale Kosoko, Accidental Saint (J.I.K.D.I.S.Y.G.I.B.), 2019. Mixed-media installation, dimensions variable.
Jaamil Olawale Kosoko, Accidental Saint (J.I.K.D.I.S.Y.G.I.B.), 2019. Mixed-media installation, dimensions variable.
M. Carmen Lane, Akhsó (Grandma): This Is A New Experience, 2019. Black-and-white iPhone images printed on vinyl, mixed-media construction, dimensions variable.
M. Carmen Lane, Skin Hunger/the Artist As Caregiver, 2019. Sound piece (originally published in Anomaly, issue26), 2:50 total run time, looped
M. Carmen Lane, Akhsó (Grandma): This Is A New Experience, 2019. Black-and-white iPhone images printed on vinyl, mixed-media construction, dimensions variable.
M. Carmen Lane, Akhsó (Grandma): This Is A New Experience, 2019. Black-and-white iPhone images printed on vinyl, mixed-media construction, dimensions variable.