New show to probe environmental issues through African art
Responses to urban, natural, and economic environments by contemporary African artists will be on view in a thought-provoking exhibition at the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College.
The show, titled Environment and Object-Recent African Art, opens Saturday, Feb. 5, and will run through July 31, 2011. The public is invited to a reception on the opening day, beginning at 6 p.m.
"Black Gold I," Yinka Shonibare
From appropriated waste materials turned into site-specific installations and sculptures, to eerily compelling photographs of ravaged and degraded environments, the exhibition will include works of art that scrutinize human-made environmental disasters, natural resource problems, deforestation, and other ecological issues. Other artists in the show take a less directly political approach regarding their environments, using found objects and abandoned junk to create both visually compelling and intellectually challenging art works.
The show will present the work of Africans living and working around the globe, including internationally recognized artists Yinka Shonibare, El Anatsui, Viy Diba, Barth l my Toguo, and Zwelethu Mthethwa, as well as emerging artists gaining a reputation outside of Africa, such as Bright Ugochukwu Eke, Lara Baladi, and Nnenna Okore.
The exhibition is co-curated by Lisa Aronson, associate professor of art history at Skidmore, who specializes in African art history, and John Weber, Dayton Director of the Tang.
"Many of the artists on view incorporate found objects into their work, whether to address ecological and economic conditions or simply to reflect the nature of the world they live in," said Aronson. "El Anatsui and Nnenna Okore employ materials taken from urban and rural environments to create expressive and provocative wall hangings and sculptures. Other artists in the exhibition work in traditional media like paint and photography to create meditations on natural resource management or industrial pollution. Yet, all decisively reject romanticized perceptions of Africa, while offering a broader view of contemporary Africa and conditions which concern it."
Bright Ugochukwu Eke, a Nigerian artist working frequently in the U.S., often explores humans' negative impact on the environment. Eke will be an artist-in-residences at the Tang Museum in January, where he will work with four Skidmore studio art majors to create a site-specific installation incorporating plastic water and soda bottles. Known for his elegant architectural works, Eke often creates installations made through the accumulation of hundreds of identical, discarded objects, in order to focus attention on the "earth-human connection." Viy Diba of Senegal, who creates painting, sculpture, and mixed media installations incorporating objects and photographs, will also be an artist-in-residence at the Tang.
Oil Spill Near Farm Land Ogoni, George Osodi
In addition to artists employing found objects, a number of artists in the exhibition
will comment on political and environmental situations on the continent through photographic
works. Calling attention to policies that fail to protect the land or its inhabitants,
former AP photographer George Osodi captures oil field explosions in Nigeria over
the past decade, documenting the destruction of landscapes, livelihoods, and ecosystems
caused by the oil industry. Artist Garth Meyer creates luscious silver gelatin prints
that belie the savage deforestation in South Africa and across the continent. Barth
l my Toguo also responds to deforestation in his work Stupid African President 2. The work depicts a man balancing a chainsaw on his head, depicting the cheap, portable,
easy-to-operate tool that has allowed loggers access to jungle forest tracts previously
inaccessible to vehicles or heavy machinery.
"Environment and Object extends the Tang's legacy of interdisciplinary exhibitions that highlight the interconnectedness
of our world," said co-curator Weber. "The exhibition highlights situations that concern
all of us, across many fields and in many places. The fact that the artists creating
this work are from Africa is significant, too, and underlines both the global nature
of their work and the conditions it engages. We look forward to welcoming visitors
to Saratoga Springs and the campus community, offering them a new and compelling view
of art that grapples with real issues."
The exhibition will be accompanied by an extensive catalogue with new essays on a range of topics related to art and the environment that will serve as a resource on the current generation of African contemporary artists. The catalogue will include essays by the curators Aronson and Weber, a new interview with art historian Chika Okeke-Agulu of Princeton University, and essays by political scientist Chris Whann of Empire State College, environmental studies professor Karen Kellogg of Skidmore, and socio-cultural anthropologist Mark Auslander of Brandeis University.
The Tang Museum's website will feature extensive material about Environment and Object as the exhibition unfolds, including slide shows of the works on view, a special interactive feature providing historical background and quotes from the artists, video of public programs and interviews with artists and others, and panoramic views of the exhibition itself. Site visitors are encouraged to check back regularly over the course of the exhibition as new materials are added.
Environment and Object - Recent African Artis supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Getty Foundation, the Tadahisa Kuroda Exhibition Fund, the Virginia Gooch Puzak '44 Faculty Curatorial Endowment, Chief Oscar Ibru '81 and Chief Mrs. Wanda Swann Ibru '79 (Nigeria), and Friends of the Tang, with additional support from the Henry Luce Foundation and the Creative Thought Fund at Skidmore.
Related Spring Programs
Saturday, February 5
5 p.m. - Dunkerley Dialogue featuring artists Viy Diba, Bright Eke, and Barth l my Toguo and art historian/curator Chika Okeke-Agulu of Princeton University, moderated by exhibition co-curators Lisa Aronson and John Weber
6-7:30 p.m. - Reception for the Tang Museum's spring exhibitions. Free and open to the public, with refreshments.
Tuesday, February 8
Noon - Exhibition tour with curators Lisa Aronson, Skidmore art history, and John Weber, Tang Dayton Director
Tuesday, March 1
7 p.m. - Dunkerley Dialogue with artist Lara Baladi
Thursday, March 3
7 p.m. - Film showing of Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai (2008) with co-director Lisa Merton. Co-sponsored by Skidmore's Environmental Studies Program