Sampled
dal 9/9/2003 al 18/10/2003
Segnalato da
9/9/2003
Sampled
Art Gallery Bishop, Lennoxville, QC
Presenting Epiphany (1995), a work that subverts and reinterprets the cross motif, the Gallery will also exhibit Wade's new work that fuses together elements of embroidery and rap lyrics. A melding of traditional and contemporary influences and concerns, the exhibit uses religious iconography, pop culture and materials from the everyday to explore personal identity, ethnicity, collective histories, religion and spirituality.
The Jan Wade Remix
The Art Gallery of Bishop's University is proud to inaugurate its
2003-2004 season with Vancouver artist Jan Wade's latest
production, Sampled: The Jan Wade Remix. Presenting Epiphany
(1995), a work that subverts and reinterprets the cross motif, the
Gallery will also exhibit Wade's new work that fuses together
elements of embroidery and rap lyrics. A melding of traditional and
contemporary influences and concerns, the exhibit uses religious
iconography, pop culture and materials from the everyday to
explore personal identity, ethnicity, collective histories, religion
and spirituality.
Born in Hamilton, Ontario to a European-descended mother and an
Afro-Canadian father, Jan Wade taps into her personal history and
heritage, colouring and shaping her practice. In Epiphany, Wade
takes the immediately recognisable Christian symbol as the crux of
her work-covering an entire wall with intricately designed and
decorated crosses of all sizes. With the cross, she references not
only her African Methodist Episcopalian upbringing, but also the
religion and the history of her oppressed ancestors.
Inspired by her great grandmother's stories, as well as a growing
investigation into Afro-American history, Wade developed an
interest into the many religions that evolved in New World slave
communities. SanterÃa, one such religion that developed in Cuba,
has been particular inspiring for Wade. Like other New World
religions, SanterÃa is a site of confluence of two religions and
cultures. While appropriating Christian elements, SanterÃa
nonetheless maintains strong links with voodoo, an ancestral-spirit
belief system originally from Western Africa. This combination of
Christianity with indigenous African culture and spirituality
developed into a potent source of salvation, empowering Wade's
ancestors during times of unspeakable hardships and inhumane
treatment
Historically, newly arrived slaves viewed the cross as
representational of their white Christian oppressors, yet through
time this symbol evolved into an indispensable element of SanterÃa.
A religion that continues the voodoo tradition of ancestral worship,
Santeria also came to rely upon votive objects and decorated
crosses as essential features of ritual and everyday life. Reclaiming
the cross once again for herself, Wade embellishes her crosses with
text and pop culture kitsch such as toy guns, horse shoes, and black
power fists, illustrating her own personal journey and contemporary
interpretation of SanterÃa. Wade conflates religious iconography
and popular culture, demonstrating the personal and political
implications of black diasporic identity.
Epiphany brings to light the power of the African diasporic
religious, artistic and spiritual practices that Afro-Americans have
adapted to fit into their new homeland. Tying the past with the
present, Wade signals the resilience of her cultural roots and the
continuing evolution of Afro-American culture. While giving voice
to a painful collective history stained by injustice and critiquing the
pervasiveness of present day racist attitudes, Wade nonetheless
offers a venue for cultural reclamation as well as spiritual
reaffirmation.
Wade continues the themes of linking the past with the present,
tradition with pop culture, and collective history with personal
identity in her most recent work. Relating embroidery-an art form
long associated with domestic female labour, with rap lyrics-a
contemporary form of expression that is in itself deeply rooted in
African oral history tradition, Wade brings to light Afro-American
contemporary culture and the role of women within. Wade reclaims
rap as a vehicle of poetic and political engagement, rejecting the
often denigrating image of women found in contemporary rap.
Moreover, Wade connects rap with the Afro-American 'spoken
word' tradition, and further back to the history of the Griot in
Africa, whose oral narratives were instrumental in providing a
greater sense of collective cultural pride. Combining embroidery
with these lyrics, Wade once again shows the strength of the
diasporic Afro-identity in its struggle to survive and evolve under a
hegemonic rule.
Sampled: The Jan Wade Remix is presented at the Art Gallery of
Bishop's University with the support of Canada Council for the
Arts.
Opening reception: Wednesday September 10th, 2003 from 5
p.m. to 7 p.m.
Exhibition: September 10th - October 18th, 2003
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., and all evenings of
performances at Centennial Theatre
Bilingual Guided Tours/Beaded Amulet Workshops
September/October 2003 (please call for dates, times and price)
AGBU Cine-Club: Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus), 1959
Wednesday September 17th, 2003 at 7 p.m.
Centennial Theatre Cost: $4/person
Source: Kristen Lambertson
Information: Dominique Godfrey
Tel: (819) 822-9600 ext. 2279
Fax: (819) 822-9703
Art Gallery Bishop
Lennoxville
Canada