CREATE! /// Un-Script-It Curated by Vanessa Seis now on view at KUNSTRAUM through November 20th
By createmagazine.com on October 24, 2022 read article
Romina Chuls, Con la sangre y el alma, From the series Con P de patria, 2018, Cross-knit looping on drawing, 39.4” x 27.5”.
Create! Magazine is excited to share the announcement of a new group exhibition at KUNSTRAUM LLC, Un-Script-It, running from October 23rd – November 20th, 2022 and curated by Vanessa Seis. A finissage & open Studio event will be held on Sunday, November 20th from 12-6pm. Featured artists include David Bowen, Eunsun Choi, Romina Chuls, Sam HEYDT, Anna Maria Pinaka, Paula R Rodriguez, and Abigail Tankersley.
Overcoming fatalism requires high doses of creativity and ingenuity from a wide range of different voices. Un-Script-It, an exhibition curated by Vanessa Seis opening at KUNSTRAUM this October, sets out to inspire change by highlighting seven national and international artists that responded to an open call earlier this year and whose work address contemporary socio, political, and environmental topics through three-dimensional work, textiles, painting, and collage.
Abigail Tankersley, Biologists Tend to Look at Death as Means for Life to Regenerate, 2021, Large-scale machine-knit stretched painting, 72” x 72" inches.
"This stunning, large-scale, machine-knit piece by Tennessee-based artist Abigail Tankersley is really one to be experienced in person. It visualizes circular, overwhelming thoughts, particularly regarding death, in a way that is not fearful but rather gracious. Emphasis is placed on the way traumatic and painful experiences can find a transition into something more inspiring and maybe even beautiful." - Vanessa Seis
In a post-pandemic time marked by domestic and international political conflicts, culture wars, climate disasters, and economic instability, the media is quick to perpetuate that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable—a seemingly scripted and uncontrollable reality.
Yet there are millions of people who rise every day and fight for change and reconciliation on a macro and micro level. So, what drives them to re-write the script? And how do the artists in this exhibition quietly but bluntly re-write it?
Through her large-scale machine-knit stretched painting “Biologists Tend to Look at Death as Means for Life to Regenerate” Tennessee artist Abigail Tankersley visualizes the circular, overwhelming thought of death in a way that is not fearful but rather gracious. Colorful and playful, she places emphasis on the way traumatic and painful experiences can find a transition into something more inspiring and maybe even beautiful, through ways of spirituality and reflection.
Exploring social concerns such as mental health, specifically as it relates to her cultural background and issues of identity, Mexican-born, London-based artist Paula R Rodriguez takes the viewer to a peaceful, decolonized, and deeply rooted place in her work “Stavroz, Some Place Else.” Evoking the magical realism of Latin America, her work pays homage to the richness of its native traditions.
Chroniclers of our time and drivers of change, the artists presented in Un-Script-It were seemingly grappling with and gravitating towards similar themes at similar moments in time. While they approach overlapping topics such as climate change, mental health, and women’s rights, from very different practices and angles, the works in this exhibition all remind us that we are at a point in time where we can rewrite the script, on behalf of society, nature, and ourselves.
Eunsun Choi, Cuckoo (Edition no. 2), 2021, Arduino nano, DFPlayer, micro-SD card, mini speaker, recorded human voice, ceramic, wood, servo motor, power supply, 5" x 5" x 6.5” inches.
"In Cuckoo, Korean-born, Seattle-based artist Eunsun Choi addresses her own anxieties growing up in South Korea in the 90s, but also the economic disparity that followed the Asian financial crisis in ’97. At that time, cuckoo clocks were the sign of wealth for the not so wealthy, and living with two clocks in her own household, Choi found herself creeped out by the sound and much more at ease when the clocks were broken. In her work, she uses recorded human voice and Choi is currently working towards a large-scale installation of 100 pieces." - Vanessa Seis
Paula R Rodriguez, La Llorna, 2022, Gouache on watercolor paper, 20.25” x 15.25” inches framed.
"Paula R Rodriguez’ painting practice combines explorations of her native Mexico with social concerns, such as mental health, specifically as it relates to her cultural background and explores issues of identity. Her work evokes the magic realism of her cultural background and the richness of its native traditions, which I felt immediately drawn to. While the Hispanic-American myth of “La Llorona” is mainly known as a story to scare children into good behavior, it also touches upon issues of motherhood, machismo, female responsibility and male absence, the feminine condition, and the more universal notion of a life after death reflective of the choices made while on Earth, which resonates with so many of us." - Vanessa Seis
Un-Script-It will be on view at KUNSTRAUM from October 23rd to November 20th, 2022, by appointment only. A finissage and open studios event will be held on November 20th from 12pm - 6pm, with a curator-led tour at 2pm. To browse and shop the exhibition, visit KUNSTRAUM's e-shop.
KUNSTRAUM LLC is a gallery, artist hub, and studio space located near the Brooklyn NavyYard. Engaging artists, architects, curators, designers, filmmakers and writers, we are an interdisciplinary community that seeks to redefine the way creatives and . We offer thought-provoking exhibitions, public programs, networking opportunities, research, affordable studio space, curatorial fellowships, artist residencies, and discourse for creative production. By opening our gallery to different art professionals interested in engaging ideas, unconventional thinking, and risk-taking, KUNSTRAUM pushes the parameters of emerging, international, contemporary art.
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Alicia Puig has been a contributing writer for Create! Magazine since 2017.
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