Mexican modern artist Gabriel Orozco, known for cutting-edge installations and sculptures, said the coronavirus pandemic has presented an âopportunity, proba...
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Mexican modern artist Gabriel Orozco, known for cutting-edge installations and sculptures, said the coronavirus pandemic has presented an âopportunity, proba...
Mexican, born 1962
Response to the Questions Written
Describe Gabriel Orozco and Andy Goldsworthyâs process of making work?
 Gabriel Orozco lacks a studio, finding that many studios have the inability to connect to reality all the time. He works outdoors, being intimate with everything associated with reality. His work is experimental and opportunistic, having lots of different ways to invent and create. Goldsworthy works similarly, with his work also primarily taking place outside- sometimes on othersâ property. He has little plan of what is going to come of his art, with everything being dependent on the natural world around him. The world is the supplier of direct inspiration for him.
-How do they use the materials they find?
 Orozco creates small, hidden installations with the objects he finds. The materials are often manmade, and therefore have a strictly human atmosphere when put into one of his pieces. Goldsworthyâs materials are completely from nature and nature alone; he uses these materials in order to create art through the breath of Gaia. He creates structures with Earthâs materials that could, in another world, pass as a naturally magical act completed without the assistance of people. Something about his art feels like whispers from nymphs.Â
How was land art, environmental art, or site specific art trying to break away from modernist forms of sculpture?
 Land art, environmental art, and site specific art are breaking from modernist forms of sculpture in terms of space and eternity. It differs in terms of space due to not being kept in a small, white-walled museum room; the land art isnât likely to have a plaque describing the artistâs intentions nor method of creation. Itâs not often pristinely clean, either. In forms of eternity, it isnât as such. Art that is kept in museums is, ideally, meant to last for longer than it would in the natural world. The pieces are free from exposure to the elements, from other people. Environmental art is just the opposite. With the art more often than not being a part of the land, it will eventually become the land again; the pieces are not meant to last forever. Life is fleeting, and the pieces should be as well.Â
What are some of the different ways that artists engage with different sites that you found interesting?
 Iâm always partial to Goldsworthyâs use of the natural land to create magic within nature, but I liked the Repellent Fence from the âBorderlandsâ video. The piece not only interacts with the nature and man-made aspects of the land, but it speaks to so many people in North America. The connecting of both Mexico and the United States via the use of balloons as an adjacent âfenceâ is mind-blowing.
How do indigenous artists like Post-Commodity and Cannupa Hanska Luger relate to the land in ways that are different from other artists?
 Indigenous artists will always have their past to back up their use of the land. It was once theirs, wrongfully stripped from them by people who did not, and to a degree- still do not, respect their history, their language, their culture. The meaning, and more often than not, the method of production, will always be far different than a settler in North America.Â
Hayward Gallery Exhibit
The artistic oeuvre of Atul Bhalla is anchored in a discourse that scrutinises the role of history and memory in the creation of the present....
Memory in Both Water and Art: A Response to Atul Bhalla
 Much like with most artists that I first come into contact with, whether it be through a book, a video, a gallery viewing, or a seminar, I try my best to remember who they are with elements of their work- even if my memory isnât the best. Looking at Bhallaâs work, I thought to myself that I would only remember his work with water and perhaps the photos of himself in potentially dangerous situations. However, this wasnât the case; what stuck with me even more than just his work were his descriptions of the water, how important it is both in a life spectrum as well as a political one. It shouldnât be this way, but access to clean, drinkable water has become political in a sense.Â
 In his work Wash/Water/Blood seen below....
 Bhalla constructs a representation of intimacy through water and memory. In his discussion, he talked about how when water is taken from a glass where a flower had once stood, the water retains some of the pigment found within the petals. While this seems like a non sequitur, could it be that it reacts the same way to us? To our hands? Even if pigment is not what the water retains, as melanin is difficult to extract with water alone, would it be impossible to believe that humanityâs essence is kept in the water? Itâs already been confirmed that DNA (often with saliva or remains of skin) can be kept in water and itâs been used to solve crime countless times; yet, could there be something a little more sentimental to this?Â
 Corresponding to the manner we speak of water with, is it just as alive as we are? Perhaps not in a biological definition, because that is completely untrue, but in the most magical definition. In the same manner that we talk about waterâs actions mirroring people, can we give it that same personification with memory? I think so. At least, thatâs what I think now that Iâve experienced Atul Bhallaâs art.
A. Takeabite,elduendealwaystravels...light. 2012-13. Video, 13 minutes. Clip begins at 00:00 TAKEABITE is dark and humorous attempt at exploring migration, gluttony,âŠ
Interview with artist David Antonio Cruz, his works are part of our exhibition "Portraiture Now: Staging the Self" on display at the National Portrait Galler...
If The System Wonât Change On Its Own, Abandon It And Create A New One Yourself: a Response to Jaishri Abichandani
 Jaishri Abichandani is one of those artists who I had to research immediately coming out of the meeting. Her personality and her work both shine brilliantly even through zoom calls with limited screen capacity. I adore her work, but what caught my attention the most was her pride in the contemporary artists she surrounded herself with. Seeing her be so proud of having a diverse set of artists making art for shows over and over again was beautiful. Her passion with talking about her contemporaries stands unrivaled in my experience- you would think she was talking about the greatest people in the world. And to some (definitely not as many as there should be), they are.
 Far too many museums are lacking where Abichandani and her groups of artists are thriving. As the Gorilla Girls have made note: modern day art museums still hold a small sector of diverse artists being shown, with the majority of the âdiversityâ being straight, able-bodied white women. Queerness in art has always existed, but is so far covered up that some of those in the art history field will argue that Queerness in art is simply a modern invention that came into existence within the past 50 years or so. And yet, Jaishri Abichandani is able to find people in numbers that put the percentages in museums to shame. Itâs not âbeing undereducated in the subjectâ to not know artists who are not straight, white, able-bodied men, but a silencing- either from the teachings that one goes through, or a personal silencing that refuses to learn about anything different than what is âcomfortableâ.Â
 This portrait of Robina Niaz, a piece from her collection of portraits of South Asian American feminists for the show Then and Now in Philly. Iâm very much a portrait person; I love how each person individually decides to portray their subject matter. In each of these many pieces, itâs extremely apparent that Abichandani truly cares for the subjects of her works. The amount of care and detail put into not just acquiring realism by shape, but the delicate nature of the additive decoration that goes into making the piece a little more than a portrait is what catches my attention the most. Sequins, lace, beads, other craftwork, you name it. Like her practice, her work is demonstrative of her eagerness to enthrall with types of art that one might overlook or never see due to the seemingly active silencing within art related media.Â
 Sheâs amazing, and the art of both her and her colleagues should be spoken of more.
Rebecca Belmoreâs work is mentioned in this article!
Art21 is a celebrated global leader in presenting thought-provoking and sophisticated content about contemporary art, and the go-to place to learn first-hand from the artists of our time. A nonprofit organization, Art21âs mission is to inspire a more creative world through the works and words of contemporary artists. Art21 produces the Peabody Award-winning PBS-broadcast series,
Style Wars and the Definition of Graffiti Art
 Growing up in areas defined by suburban urbanity, train cars that simply acted as canvases to graffiti artists were as common to me as the cars that sat next to me while waiting for said train to pass. My mother and father used to look at the stylized letters and images with disgrace painted on their faces, disgust filling their veins visually. I never understood why they hated it so much- why anyone could hate it at all, really. Itâs art, I thought. Why would anyone hate art? I grew to love the train cars painted with the names of people I had never known and would never know. I loved the buildings that once had spray cans dance along the bricks, an art form like lacemaking. The once bare, boring walls now full of words and shapes that might never make true sense to anybody but the original artist; but thatâs the beauty in all art, right?
 The purpose of art is recognition for most. Perhaps not recognition on a celebrity level, but recognition like how somebody recognizes a nameless person, a neighborhood, a town. Itâs common, itâs there. You might not make an active decision to know the person behind the work, but you absolutely know what theyâve made.Â
 Graffiti is just art made public instantly- the notion that graffiti is âdisrespectâ seems a little off to me. Whatâs the purpose of silencing someoneâs art? Very few times have I ever seen graffiti that wasnât absolutely beautiful, striking, awe-inspiring. The dingy grey buildings would be characterless without the art that speckles it. I see the appeal in beating the system, but there is a point to question the system as well. Why not let people create art where they please? Why should the system control how people make art? Why limit it to canvases for any reason other than control? There is rarely a reason. The aspiring dreams of graffiti artists to be like other graffiti artists is just artist to artist- it should be respected in the same way.Â
I love the trains from where I grew up. I love the vivid shapes and names that dress the train cars like graphic tees. I love everything about the longing for uprooting an unjust system that attempts to control the minds and hands of the people within its reach. Everything about what Iâve talked about is inspirational for me. I can only hope to be this influential someday.Â
Mahlangu and Mehretu: A Response to the 20x20 Artist Talks
 I was extremely excited to be able to talk about some of the artist talks from last week. Itâs not that often where I get to reflect on something thatâs entirely presented to me with the thoughts and presentation of people my age! I had seen Julie Mehretuâs work before, as my high school art history teacher loved her work.Â
 Between the two artists, they cover entirely opposing bases. Mahlanguâs art takes form with existing objects, retelling a tradition from her own culture that has existed for centuries. Her art is composed entirely in her head, perfectly making its way onto her work like a telepathic lithograph. She reinvents space from a completely new, non-euro-american point of view. Her vibrant colors and harsh, proud lines are things to look at with awe and amazement. Personally, I love the car the most. Thereâs something just so wonderful about her not even needing a sketch of the car to make her work upon it! Her methods in regards to her work are dazzling and I stand by my opinion that sheâs one of the most interesting artists Iâve ever learned about (and thatâs saying something!).
 Meanwhile, Mehretu reinvents space in a completely different aspect. Working on a colossal, almost beastly scale, she creates environments that could not exist in reality. In fact, the idea that they could exist at all may feel a little daunting. In certain pieces, she uses certain aspects of reality in order to establish space and perspective to her otherwise chaotic and wondrous world of abstraction. Triangles appear like banners at school events, shapes like windows strewn about âbuildingsâ that might not be there at all. Thereâs a magic to it similar to how the human brain wants to find faces in even the most mundane surfaces.Â
 An unbridled vortex of shape, color, and line. Itâs wonderful in the same way a hurricane is. You wish to be swept away in it, yet you fear itâs capabilities. However, thatâs what artâs all about, right? Evoking emotion, evoking a response, creating responses, evoking more emotions. Itâs just a pattern that must exist forever!
Rebecca Belmore, Fringe, 2008.
Rebecca Belmore
Worth (2010)
Rebecca Belmore
8 Indigenous Contemporary Artists Reclaim Identity and Representation
It is common knowledge in Canada today that Indigenous people in our country have long endured a history of colonizationâs injustice since colonizers first arrived in North America. The statistics of horrendous massacres are arduously documented on paper, and the harrowing consequences of residential schools are on the mainstream radar. Stephen Harperâs apology in 2008 reached millions, and Justin Trudeau; despite the controversy around his tattoo appropriating Haida culture, has successfully created the illusion to many that he is going to further reconciliations. The Eurocentric narrative makes history seem like it belongs to the past; that the fact that is in the past makes it benign, unable to permeate the present.
This false construction of history as most non-Indigenous Canadians know it today, is based on centuries of much less implicit exclusion and silencing tactics. The marginalization of Indigenous people has occurred most remarkably through representation-first how the colonizers viewed them, then, how they conveyed their denigrations of the âdirty Indiansâ to the rest of North America and the world. Contemporary Indigenous artists in Canada are fighting back and reclaiming their image by giving a voice to their communities, which allow audiences to view Indigenous peopleâs identities in a humanizing and truthful light.
Sometimes that voice is quite flamboyant and gleeful. Kent Monkman, a multi-media artist of Cree ancestry who lives in Toronto, has garnered international recognition for his paintings, film and video, performance art, and installations. Monkmanâs portraits are often visually loud, and illustrious, using a wide range of vibrant colours and many bustling figures. His portraiture work, predominantly in the medium of painting, captures figures in midst of gestures and they are depicted with high degree of realism. In The Triumph of Mischief painted in 2007, he mocks Canadian landscape as painted by European artists such as Paul Kane and George Catlin, by reclaiming it and dispersing wild allegories of Indigenous people and colonizers in a flurry of battles and celebrations. Critics have described Monkmanâs work as highly satirical. Murray Whyte from The Star writes, âItâs fair to say that Kent Monkman stands alone in a genre of one: revisionist history, colonial period, of the Eurocentric fantasy of the ânoble savageâ, all seen through a queer lens.â Working with his alter ego persona Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, who makes an appearance in many of his paintings and performances, Kent Monkman introduces a world of intricate sexualities and identities of Indigenous people and the history that has been omitted by the European oppression.
 Ojibwe artist Carl Beam applies several layers of commentary within his multi-media practice to juxtapose images that challenge stereotypes of Indigenous people. The artist lived and died in his birthplace of MâChigeeng, and left behind a legacy of being the first Indigenous artist to have his work purchased by The National Gallery of Canada under âcontemporary artâ. This important accomplishment presented a platform for discussion on problems that affect First Nationsâ cultures, the environment, brutality of oppression, and how the retelling of history affected Indigenous people everywhere. Beamâs autobiographical paintings, prints, and sculptures which catalyst political commentary, make use of photo-transfer techniques to create a blend of subjects and events from the past and present. Carl Beamâs handmade bowls and pottery during his later years, was sometimes decorated with the imagery of the raven (âMigwansâ, Beamâs family name, translates to âfeatherâ or âbirdâ), which signified his exploration into self-portraiture, and reflection of a strong connection to his First Nations identity. The artist looked within himself and the socio-political atmosphere in which he lived to influence the aesthetic decisions of his groundbreaking work.
Since the invention of photography, the medium has been viewed with suspicion in the Aboriginal community.
 MĂ©tis artist Rosalie Favell is well known for her Facing The Camera series. Favell explains the underlying subjugation of photography, which is, âcamera was another weapon in the wars of domination in the history of colonization.â After meeting many artists during her Banff residence in 2008, Rosalie Favell embarked on a mission to professionally document the faces of her fellow Indigenous contemporaries to give them exposure; a project that was greeted with great support and positivity from the community. The artist sees the photograph as a space for peopleâs identities to perform.
In her statement, Favell writes, âidentity is constantly worked and reworked, represented, and perhaps hidden. I use the portrait convention to acknowledge the agency of the individual in bringing together in a conscious and unconscious way, the numerous cultural and personal factors through which the sense of self is expressedâ. In her portraits, the subject reveals themselves to the artist behind the camera, and furthermore, the subjects find their identities revealed to themselves. On occasion, Rosalie Favell takes self-portraits and finds herself reflecting on her own identity and image as an Indigenous artist.
Shelley Niro is an artist who presents a new perspective on Indigenous identity by weaving cultural symbolism and humour into stereotypical semiotics of Indians. She is a member of Six Nations Reserve, Turtle Clan, Bay of Quinte, and her projects incorporate beadwork, painting, photography, and film. The voice of her work is quite introspective and phenomological. In 1999, Niro constructed the piece Time Travels Through Us, which is a photograph of a mother and her two daughters placed in a silver painted frame that is embedded with purple and white beads. Also present is a turtle perching on the shoulder of the eldest daughter, the animal of the Niro family clan; symbolic of the animal from the creation myth. The mother gently holds a nest with eggs, which the youngest daughter supports with cupped palms. The chosen colours represent Iroquois aesthetics and the Wampum, and the importance of the document as it envelops the figures. The composition of the mother and her kin suggest the passing down of cultural, social, and personal values through generations. Â Â
Niroâs popular project, The Shirt displayed at the Venice Biennale in 2003 and also recently at the AGO, critiques the lasting detrimental effects of European colonialism that still affect Indigenous individuals today. In the photographs, posing against a green landscape as a stereotypical tourist, the subject wears a white t-shirt sayings such as âMy ancestors were annihilated, exterminated, murdered and massacredâ, âThey were cheated, tricked, and deceivedâ, âAttempts were made to assimilate, colonize, enslave and displace themâ, and âAnd allâs I get is this shirtâ. Although the punch line is darkly humorous, the message of colonialismâs disturbing past rings loud and clear. Niro made the artistic decision to juxtapose the tourist figure on an untouched landscape backdrop as a way to reclaim the land that was originally and rightfully theirs before it was polluted with the violent past of colonization.Â
In 2015, Macleanâs published a heartbreaking article on the racism problem of Winnipeg, labelling it as the most racist city in Canada. The article outlines the sexual assault and murder of young women, and the racism shown on social media through vicious accusations of Indigenous people shown as lazy bums living off government welfare. The racists highlighted in the article show little sympathy or acknowledgement of the brutal treatment of Aboriginals.
 Visual artist KC Adams reclaimed racial slurs endured by First Nations communities in her portrait series Perception. Adams photographs unsmiling individuals in black and white and plasters common slurs across the image, and in a parallel image, she captures the same individual with a softened expression. The second image illuminates the radiant, authentic identity of the individual, free of stereotypes and judgement.
Another artist that draws attention to Indigenous femicide and mistreatment of Indigenous peoples through history as a whole is Rebecca Belmore. Belmore is internationally known for her performance and installation pieces, and she was Canadaâs official representative at the 2005 Venice Biennale. Belmore pushes her body to its limits to perform works critiquing the cultural and political exhile of First Nations peoples. Critic Jessica Bradley writes of the artistâs practice, âThe work of Rebecca Belmore interrogates usual configurations of location, unmasking imagined relationships of nature and filling the abstractions of identity politics with heartfelt renderings of everyday life. She makes us think about how land is represented, exploring its mythic function in the circulation of colonial conceitsâ. Belmoreâs performances give voice to the complexity of the relationships between First Nations people and the western world.
Artist Dana Claxton looks at the gender and historical representation of First Nations people in her practice. Claxton is a filmmaker, photographer, and performance artist of Hunkpapa Lakota ancestory. In 2007 she was presented the Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art award. She speaks of her practice as being âinfluenced by my own experience as a Lakota woman, as a Canadian, a mixed blood Canadian, and then my own relationship to the natural and supernatural world. So taking that whole bundle of experiences, it all goes in to the artwork, I think thatâs where the multi-layering comes in because Iâve had a very multi-layered life. And itâs all those experiences that go in to the work.âÂ
Her work combines her world-view with real issues faced by Indigenous communities in the past and present and how traditional iconography plays into pop culture and contemporary culture. She explores colonization, body imagery, beauty, politics, and spirituality through the medium of video and photography. In her artwork On The Red Road in 2006, Claxton presented five photographs dealing with clothing and stereotypes of femininity. The artist wears traditional regalia, and gradually sheds articles of clothing, eventually revealing a stereotypically âsexyâ dress. The work highlights how Indigenous identity is multi-layered and deeper than surface layer perceptions of popular culture, while questioning gender bias among a wider audience. Â In Grant her Restitution (1991) and I Want To Know Why (1994) Dana Claxton investigates the effects of colonialism on women especially, and in interviews she revealed she wanted to âbring spirit into the gallery spaceâ. The artist brings together symbolism of Lakota spirituality and contemporary spaces of art.
 Arthur Renwick is a photo-based artist, curator, and professor who dedicates his practice to the exploration of identity as a cultural phenomenon and how colonization has affected it. Renwick is a descendent of Haisla First Nation, born and raised in Kitimat British Columbia. His earliest notable work looked into the impact of industrialization on society and nature, which was influenced by the Alcanâs iluminum smelter in his hometown. His portraiture work emerged with his Mask Series in 2008, where the artist asks his subjects to âlook through the lens and directly at the stereotypesâ and make an instinctive gesture. The portraits were highly animated, and confrontational. They speak of the identity of a group of people depicted to take a stand against stereotypes. The artist intended for his work to make the viewer feel diminished when they encountered the portraits. The series allowed Arthur Renwick to confront his own heritage that travels down a long path of unsettling discrimination.
There are themes that emerge within one artistâs practices that are reminiscent of another artistâs work, such as the gender and sexuality exploration that Kent Monkman and Dana Claxton share, or the landscape and worldview connection between Shelley Niro and Rebecca Belmore. Carl Beam explored and embedded his ancestory into his pottery and paintings, much like Niro and Arthur Renwick. Renwick and Favell discovered their role and responsibility as Individual artists through capturing the performing identities of other Indigenous subjects in their portrait photography. The goal of these contemporary eight artists can be summarized to be one of fighting stereotypes, questioning the complexities of identity with introspection, and contextualizing where and how the Indigenous representation relates to the western world-spiritually, socially, and politically.