Fibbergibbet and Mumbo Jumbo
dal 25/3/2004 al 14/8/2004
Segnalato da
25/3/2004
Fibbergibbet and Mumbo Jumbo
The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia
Kara E. Walker in Two Acts, the most recent work by current artist-in-residence made in collaboration with the FWM. In keeping with her provocative installations of cut paper silhouettes for which she has become known, Walker continues to use the simplest of means to create vivid—if not shocking—images based on life in the Antebellum South. Fibbergibbet and Mumbo Jumbo combines the silhouettes with the artists' interest in painting, drawings and projections. In addition—for the first time in her career—Walker has incorporated video into the work.
The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) is pleased to present Fibbergibbet and Mumbo Jumbo: Kara E. Walker in Two Acts, the most recent work by current artist-in-residence Kara Walker made in collaboration with the FWM. The exhibition, featuring the new installation, opens to the public on Friday, March 26, 2004 with a very special, one night only engagement by Ms. Walker. The new installation and exhibition marks a turning point in Walker's work, and her appearance on the opening night is not to be missed!
In keeping with her provocative installations of cut paper silhouettes for which she has become known, Walker continues to use the simplest of means to create vivid—if not shocking—images based on life in the Antebellum South. Fibbergibbet and Mumbo Jumbo combines the silhouettes with the artists' interest in painting, drawings and projections. In addition—for the first time in her career—Walker has incorporated video into the work.
The installation consists of a theatrical stage set made of a cloth backdrop on which a landscape has been painted in washes of coffee and pigment. Before the backdrop stands the painted wooden silhouettes of willow trees and a signpost, which bears a series of aphorisms which are either misleading, or dead ends in their own right. From behind the backdrop, a fiery light casts the shadows of Walker's characters against the painted landscape as her narrative unfolds beneath a spirited moon.
In the light of the full moon, we see the silhouette of a woman dancing the Charleston. Like many of Walker's images, the video image is both comical and immediately disarming. Walker's cut-paper and projected silhouettes form a dramatic, albeit fictitious, narrative that stems in part from a mix of nineteenth century slave stories, African American history and contemporary culture. Drawing from Victorian portraiture and decorative craft traditions, at first glance the silhouettes–of cut paper, cast shadow and now video–belie the volatile nature of Walker's narrative. As the viewer is drawn into the narrative they are deliberately left to infer who is doing what to whom and exactly what may be unfolding before them, thereby implicating the viewer in the process of acknowledging and "reading" the exaggerated, stereotypical racial and sexual characteristics that Walker bestows upon them.
Kara Walker was born in Stockton, California and lives and works in New York City. Walker received her B.F.A from Atlanta College of Art, and her M.F.A in painting/printmaking from Rhode Island School of Design. Her numerous solo exhibitions include, recently, Kara Walker: Narratives of a Negress, The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs (2003); Kara Walker, Slavery!, Slavery!, 25th International Bienal of Sao Paolo, Brazil (2002); Moving Pictures, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2002); and American Primitive, Brent Sikkema Gallery, New York (2001). Recent participation in group exhibitions includes Comic Release: Negotiating Identity for a New Generation, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg (2003); Life, Death, Love, Hate, Pleasure, Pain: Selected Works from the MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago ( 2002-2003); Drawing Now: Eight Propositions, MoMA QNS, New York (2003); Telling Tales: Narrative Impulses in Recent Art, Tate Liverpool, U.K. (2002); and Form Follows Fiction, Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli, Italy (2002).
The Fabric Workshop and Museum is the only contemporary art museum in the United States devoted to creating new work in fabric and other materials in collaboration with emerging and established artists from around the world. Founded in 1977, The Fabric Workshop and Museum has developed from an ambitious experiment to a renowned institution with a widely recognized residency program, an extensive collection of work by resident artists, in-house and touring exhibitions, and comprehensive educational programming that includes lectures, tours, in-school presentations, and student apprenticeships.
Opening Reception Friday, March 26, 2004 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Special One Night Only Engagement by the Artist
Friday, March 26, 2004 6:00 p.m.
The Fabric Workshop and Museum
1315 Cherry Street 5th and 6th Floors Philadelphia, PA 19107-2026
All FWM exhibitions and programs are free and open to the public.
Hours: Mon. - Fri. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat., 12 noon to 4 p.m.