Tag: video

Krzysztof Wodiczko at Galerie Lelong

Abraham Lincoln morphs into a teenager, a senior, a woman in glasses and other characters in Krzysztof Wodiczko’s ‘A House Divided…’, as interviews shot with a variety of Staten Island citizens with varying political views are projected onto two replica of the Lincoln Memorial at Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong.  In some exchanges, friends acknowledge their differences while respecting each other; in other conversations, barriers remain high.  Wodiczko’s goal is to encourage the exchange regardless, making dialogue the goal of his art production.  (On view through March 7th).

Krzysztof Wodiczko, A House Divided…, 4K video projection on sculpture, figure height: 98.4 inches, 2019.

Ja’Tovia Gary at Paula Cooper Gallery

Ja’Tovia Gary pictures the variety in Black womanhood in her new three-channel video installation at Paula Cooper Gallery with footage shot of the artist in Monet’s garden at Giverny intercut with video of Nina Simone’s 1976 performance at the Montreux Festival and street corner interviews with women of African descent in Harlem.  Through direct animation on archival film, internet footage and her own images as well as montage, Gary employs a variety of techniques to present a complex view of Black interiority. (On view in Chelsea through March 21st).

Ja’ Tovia Gary, installation view from THE GIVERNY SUITE, three-channel film installation, 2019.

Jesper Just at Perrotin Gallery

Emotion and vulnerability continue to be strong themes in Jesper Just’s latest body of work at Perrotin Gallery on the Lower East Side.   American Ballet Theater dancers lie and sit on the floor while receiving muscle therapy via patches applied to their skin. Though nearly motionless, this individual’s alert state and a single tear suggest powerful goings on beneath a calm exterior.  Panels separated from the main display join blocks of concrete on the gallery floor in order to engage viewers more personally by forcing us to consider our own bodies in the gallery space and our own efforts at constructing meaning.  (On view through Feb 15th).

Jesper Just, Corporealities – 1, LED panels, multi-channel video, sound, steel, and cement, 98 7/16 x 137 13/16 x 143 inches, 2020.

Nam June Paik at James Cohan Gallery

Despite their tiny size, monitors on twin coin-operated chairs from 1988 by Nam June Paik in the entryway of James Cohan Gallery’s Lower East Side location blast a stream of media content at visitors who can simultaneously watch the world go by on the busy street outside.  Resembling test patterns, the chairs’ upholstery invites viewers to submit themselves to media overload.  (On view through Oct 20th).

Nam June Paik, Music is Not Sound, video system, chairs, statuettes, other objects, 46 x 41 x 72 inches, 1988.

Wuru-Natasha Ogunji at Fridman Gallery

Inspired by women’s lives in her parent’s native Nigeria, US born artist Wuru-Natasha Ogunji’s considers the daily task of carrying water in her video, ‘Will I still carry water when I am a dead woman?’ Featuring several masked women walking the residential streets of Lagos dragging gold-colored water containers, viewers witness the toll exacted on the bodies of the exhausted and drenched participants. (On view at Fridman Gallery through Oct 12th).

Wuru-Natasha Ogunji, still from ‘Will I still carry water when I am a dead woman?, single-channel digital video, 11 min, 57sec, 2013.