New York: A Performance Protest Against the “Petty Thuggery of Fascist M onsters”

Early voting starts this weekend, making now a fine time to check out X-Agent Destroy Monster Regimes

Oct 21, 2020 • View in browser

Early voting starts this weekend, making now a fine time to check out X-Agent Destroy Monster Regimes, a new performance project from artists Rebecca Fischer and Anthony Hawley. Premiering online and in person this Friday, it revisits the Mueller report in its consideration of power and the purposeful spread of political misinformation. Learn more here, and don’t forget to cast your vote.In the spirit of this long election season, Ksenia Soboleva visited Nina Katchadourian’s Monument to the Unelected, an “intriguing meditation on the flawed two-party system.” Valentina Di Liscia spends some time with Lizania Cruz’s Obituaries of the American Dream: 1931-2020, a poignant project that asks: “When and how did the American dream die for you?”Also worth checking out are Claudia Hart’s “vivid digital simulations,” artists’ attempts to grapple with the weight of the legacy of the atomic bomb, and a deep dive into the long, rich history of Africa’s Sahel region (a breathtaking show, now in its final days).It’s Wednesday. The weekend is in sight.– Dessane Lopez Cassell, Editor, Reviews

A New Performance Piece Mines the Mueller Report

The Afield and an excerpt from Destroy Monster Regimes (images courtesy Ben Semisch and Anthony Hawley)

Artists Rebecca Fischer and Anthony Hawley have made mining the details and redactions of the Mueller Report a central component of their new project, X-Agent Destroy Monster Regimes.Working together as the collaborative duo the Afield, Fischer and Hawley have remixed and reassembled key texts (and omissions) from the report into a 12-part graphic score that will guide a new multimedia performance work, set to premiere on October 23.

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Latest Reviews

Nina Katchadourian’s Tribute to Political “Roads Not Taken” An intriguing meditation on the flawed two-party system, the power of Katchadourian’s Monument to the Unelected lies in its ability to confront us with alternative histories. Ksenia M. Soboleva

Claudia Hart Breathes Life into Static Tropes of Modernism The Ruins at Bitforms Gallery riffs off the work of influential Modernists to create vivid digital simulations. Hrag Vartanian

In the Shadow of the Atomic Bomb, Artists Respond Overlaid with trauma, guilt, and questions of accountability, neither the small space of Elongated Shadows, nor its online viewing room, can quite contain all of those layers. Ilana Novick

The Long, Rich History of Africa’s Sahel Region More than merely a grand survey of art from the region, Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara mobilizes discussions around migration and contemporary cultural stewardship. Alexandra M. Thomas

The Emergence of Aubrey Levinthal What distinguishes Levinthal from her contemporaries is her ability to evoke a melancholic state that has been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic. John Yau

A Painter’s Belief in Painting Michael Berryhill sees painting as an “amazing place” where the miraculous can still occur. John Yau

SPONSORED The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Presents Virtual Open Studios The event offers multiple avenues to explore artwork and ideas from the accomplished artists in the EFA community, accessible online from October 20 to 24.

When Did Your American Dream Die?

Mourning the Death of the American Dream For a new online project in El Museo del Barrio’s Triennial, artist Lizania Cruz wants to know: when and how did the American dream die for you? Valentina Di Liscia

Closing Soon

Kevin Beasley: Reunion at Casey Kaplan, through October 24In conjuring the materiality and memories of traditions disrupted by the pandemic, Beasley’s works express reverence for his family reunion — tributes that mark its absence this year. – Alexandra M. Thomas Rivane Neuenschwander: Tropics: Damned, Orgasmic and Devoted at Tanya Bonakdar, through October 24In Neuenschwander’s home country, Brazil, the COVID-denying, blatantly racist, right-wing extremist president Jair Bolsonaro is wreaking his special havoc. – Gregory Volk Luchita Hurtado. Together Foreverat Hauser & Wirth,through October 31With its emphasis on never-before-seen painting and drawings, Luchita Hurtado. Together Forever. reveals the artist’s progressively sensual and abstract representations of the body, pushing the viewer to look much closer. – Valentina Di Liscia Richard Mayhew: Transcendenceat ACA Galleries,through October 31Offering an up-close look at the artist’s brushstrokes, the show is a meditative space awash in incandescent pigment and texture. – Julie Schneider Billie Zangewa: Wings of Change at Lehmann Maupin, through November 7Zangewa’s world-building is expansive as much as it is intimate, sharply invoking the material and the political to achieve more than representation. – Danilo Machado

SPONSORED Michael Rakowitz: Nimrud Is Now Open at the Wellin Museum of Art In these new works, including a major commission, Rakowitz continues his efforts to complicate the narrative around cultural patrimony. On view through June 2021.

More from Hyperallergic

Fiber Works Seek to “Celebrate, Mourn, and Heal” the Experiences of Indigenous Women A peek at Decoding Craft, an exhibition of works by Erin Lee Antonak and Sariah Park, presented as part of the ongoing Indigenous Women’s Voices Summit. Sarah Rose Sharp

Poetry That Pulls at the Seams of Colonial Power and Memory Enjoy a sneak peek of Perfidia, a new book from Sky Hopinka, which examines collective memory and the everyday impacts of colonial violence upon Indigenous peoples. Dessane Lopez Cassell

What Else is Going On?

The artist Carrie Mae Weems took over Lincoln Center with a sprawling public art installation designed to help educate BIPOC communities on the impact of the pandemic and share the facts to prevent its spread.Art in General, the Brooklyn nonprofit dedicated to presenting new work by emerging and mid-career artists, has announced its closure.Simone Leigh will represent the US at the 2022 Venice Biennale, becoming the first Black woman to represent the country at the prestigious exhibition.The Surdna Foundation in New York has announced that it will pledge $36 million over the next three years to projects that advance racial justice.We have exclusive video available from the Guggenheim Union about its rally at the museum’s reopening. Watch it here.

From the Store

Tom of Finland Enamel Pin The saucy T-shirt on this pin features the gorgeous musclebound work of Tom of Finland, a prolific artist who helped define a beloved gay subculture. There’s even a XXXmas edition of this very pin.We recommend getting your holiday shopping done early this year — check out the rest of our queer pin collection!

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