Jorge Mendez Blake in ‘Borders’ at James Cohan Gallery

Borders are front and center in U.S. politics and at James Cohan Gallery where Jorge Mendez Blake’s ‘Amerika’ bisects the main exhibition space, arresting both visitors’ thoughts and physical progress through the show.  Mid-way along the base of the wall, Mendez Blake has placed a copy of Kafka’s ‘Amerika,’ the troubled tale of a European immigrant to New York, intimating that migration is a fraught undertaking from start to finish.  (On view at James Cohan Gallery’s Chelsea and Lower East Side spaces through Feb 23rd).

Jorge Mendez Blake, Amerika, bricks, edition of ’Amerika’ by Franz Kafka, 72 7/8 x 11 7/8 x 400 inches, 2019.