Memory Mirage
Memory Mirage
September 17th - November 5th, 2023
Part 1: Opening Reception: Sunday, September 17th from 4-6pm
Part 2: Opening Reception; Sunday. October 15th from 4-6pm
Curated by Christina Massey, KUNSTRAUM Curator-in-Residence 2023-24
Part 1 Artists: Dana Melaver, Diana Naccarato, Elena Syromiatnikova, Farrell Mason-Brown, Howard Skrill, Hyoju Cheon, Liang He, Lora Danley, Rita Nannini
Part 2 Artists: Alejandra Alarcón R., Alejandra Delgado Urîa, Chun-Chieh Chang, Gesche Würfel, Heather Monks, Henrike Lendowski, Kate Therrian, LesleyBodzy, Linda Sok, Noel Caban, Raquel Schwartz, Valerie Vandermotten
We are pleased to announce Memory Mirage, the latest installment of our fall exhibition. This year’s Member’s show features both local and international talents from as far as Belgium, Bolivia, China, Germany, South Korea and Taiwan. Artworks range from paintings, sculpture, photography, video, drawing, collage, to ceramics. Through a two-part, rotating exhibition, artworks will be on display between September 17th and November 5th.
Memory Mirage unravels the enigmatic threads of memory. Like shimmering mirages on the horizon, our recollections dance and distort with the passage of time. Memory Mirage beckons us to question the reliability of our viewpoints, inviting us to wander through the sands of time, where reality, illusion, desires and hopes merge.
Recurring motifs within the exhibition include the beach and the sun’s impact on our perception. Rita Nannini's fabric-printed photographs offer segmented views of beach landscapes that explore the way we see and process scenic beauty. In stylistic contrast, Valerie Vandermotten's minimalistic abstract paintings reduce the seascape to horizontal lines and textures, rendering the experience of gazing at a distant horizon into a modernist vision. Dana Melaver's experimental photography, features fungi and thread evoking the sunburn on a woman’s back. Interweaving lost, past understanding with potential natural, future symbiosis as foresight. Diana Naccarato's blurred-focus painting in rich, warm tones suggests movement, rhythm and physical memories, drawing inspiration from walks near the salt marshes of Marine Park.
Meanwhile, other artists refer to cultural and personal memories that shape their lives. Artists Noel Caban, Linda Sok and Gesche Würfel gather inspiration from their ancestral histories and their Puerto Rican, Cambodian and German roots. Sok examines recently recovered and translated museum registration cards that verify the existence of lost Pidan weavings. The work endeavors to decolonialize their legacy through drawings, sketches, and exchanges with Sok's family members, drawing on their own memories to create a visual guide to the construction of a new textile replacement and stand-in for the Pidan weaving. Caban’s work, in contrast, incorporates memories of his first encounters with his Hispanic community. He uses construction materials found in basements or items picked up off the streets as an exploration of urban texture and form. In Caban’s topographical works, broken and disembodied structures act as material-driven abstractions to demonstrate his interest in issues of urban equity, equality, and inclusion. Gesche Würfel's photographic collage depicts the Berlin Wall, provoking reflections on what was and what remains of the West and East conflict. She collages images from the Ministry of State Security’s Archive and creates new Berlin landscapes that serve as a reminder and symbol of the divide that the Berlin wall created and its continued presence today.
Other artists focus their visions on potential futures while reflecting on the past and present. Henrike Lendowski's illustrative landscape drawing questions our future in the face of climate change, urging us to act upon the present reality. Whereas, artists Lesley Bodzy and Kate Therrian address the topic from a feminist perspective, questioning the unrealistic beauty standards placed upon women, their effects on self-worth and how these standards have shifted over time.
Memory Mirage invites visitors to traverse the captivating landscapes of memory, perception, and personal histories, where reality intertwines with the ephemeral illusions of remembrance. In asking us to examine the viewpoints of the past, the artists in Memory Mirage encourage us to be in the present with an open mind so that we may view the future more clearly. Through the diverse range of artworks, Memory Mirage prompts visitors to reconsider how memory functions and its impact on our perceptions of reality.
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Opening Reception: Group 1: Sunday, September 17th, 4-6pm
Closing Reception: Group 1: Sunday, October 8th, 4-6pm
Opening Reception: Group 2: Sunday, October 15th, 4-6pm
Closing Reception: Group 2: Sunday, November 5th, 4-6pm
LOCATIONS & HOURS
KUNSTRAUM LLC, 20 Grand Avenue, Loft 509, Brooklyn, NY 11205
Saturday - Sunday, 12-6pm and by appointment Tuesday - Friday, 5-7pm — Please email Christina Massey to make an appointment.
Contact: Christina Massey | Christina@kunstraumllc.com
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KUNSTRAUM's programs are supported, in part, by Art in General.
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