Isaac Julien
dal 13/10/2005 al 12/11/2005
Segnalato da
13/10/2005
Isaac Julien
Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Two audiovisual installations. 'True North', shot in the landscapes of Iceland and Northern Sweden, is conceived around the expedition and writings of Matthew Henson.'Fantome Afrique', weaves cinematic and architectural references and is punctuated by archival footage from early colonial expeditions and landmark moments in African history.
Two audiovisual installations
This October, Victoria Miro Gallery will present the UK premiere of True North and Fantôme Afrique, two audiovisual installations by celebrated artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien, alongside associated photographic series.
Developing Julien’s preoccupation with notions and expressions of diaspora, the creolising of space and crossings, the works explore the impact of location – both cultural and physical – to resounding effect through a juxtaposition of opposing global regions.
True North, shot in the spectacular landscapes of Iceland and Northern Sweden, is conceived around the expedition and writings of Matthew Henson. One of the key members of Robert E. Peary’s 1909 Arctic expedition, Henson was controversially and arguably the first person to reach the North Pole, who was also African-American.
True North’s counterpart, Fantôme Afrique, weaves cinematic and architectural references through the rich imagery of urban Ouagadougou, the centre for cinema in Africa, and the arid spaces of rural Burkina Faso, and is punctuated by archival footage from early colonial expeditions and landmark moments in African history.
Renowned choreographer and dancer Stephen Galloway (Ballet Frankfurt) and actor Vanessa Myrie (Baltimore) figure as ‘trickster/phantom‘ and ’witness’ in this carefully composed meditation on the denationalised, de-territorialised spaces born of the encounters between local and global cultures, where the ghosts of history linger amid the realities of the day.
Biographical Details
Isaac Julien was born in 1960 in London, where he currently lives and works. Julien graduated from St Martin’s School of Art, where he studied painting and fine art film. Julien’s films include Fantôme Afrique (2005), True North (2004), Baltimore (2003), which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Kunst Film Biennale in Cologne, Paradise Omeros (2002), Vagabondia (2000), choreographed by Javier de Frutos, for which he was nominated for the 2001 Turner Prize and The Long Road to Mazatlan (1999), made in collaboration with Javier de Frutos. Earlier films include Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask (1996), the Cannes prize-winning Young Soul Rebels (1991) and Looking for Langston (1989). Julien was the recipient of the prestigious MIT Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts, 2001. Solo exhibitions have included GL Strand Kunstoreningen, Denmark, Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal, House of World Cultures, Berlin, Art Pace, San Antonio, Bohen Foundation, New York. The Film Art of Isaac Julien, curated by Amada Cruz at Bard Curatorial College was shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney and toured to the Bildmuseet Umea, Henie Onstad Museum, Norway and Yerba Buena Center, San Francisco.
Exhibitions in 2005 include Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; MAK Center, Los Angeles; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin and Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami. Isaac Julien is currently visiting Mellon Professor at University of Pittsburgh and is a Trustee of the Serpentine Gallery and InIVA in London and of the Art Pace Foundation in San Antonio, Texas.
Opening: 14 October, 6-8 pm
Victoria Miro Gallery
16 Wharf Road - London
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 6pm. Admission free