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Exhibition

Brendan Fernandes

Inaction

February 12 - April 3, 2021

Above: Image courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago.

Presented in partnership with Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan University

Artist’s website | Monique Meloche Gallery

Inaction addresses the potential for change through collective action. The installation comprises two main components: a newly commissioned series of nine sculptural works and the two channel video projection Free Fall: for Camera.

Working in collaboration with the architecture and design firm Norman Kelley, Fernandes has designed a set of mobile dance supports and platforms for activation by local dancers. The mats, rug, tumblers, and square grid evoke communal spaces of training and play such as gymnasiums and playgrounds. In public performances throughout the exhibition, Fernandes’ choreography guides dancers to utilize the sculpture objects in movements, referencing a mix of childhood play and professional dance warm-up exercise. Performances are scheduled for March/April. Visit our website for details.

Paired with the installation is the two channel video work Free Fall: for Camera. Evolved from a live performance piece Free Fall (2017), this new work is in response to the mass shooting of predominantly racialized LGBTQ2S patrons at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida in 2016. Free Fall: for Camera explores the act of falling. Featuring sixteen dancers, the work demonstrates the cataclysmic moments when bodies fall onto a stage. Intimate shots are intercut with stunning aerial views, creating kaleidoscopic imagery reminiscent of film director Busby Berkeley’s visionary style.

The social upheavals of 2020 such as the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement have catalyzed a global conversation around human rights and equality. Inaction reflects on this current moment, how our bodies are affected by systemic violence, and the potential for positive change through gathering, protest, and physical collectivity

Born in Nairobi, Kenya, and currently based in Chicago, Fernandes is an internationally recognized artist working at the intersection of dance and visual arts. He is currently an artist-in-residence and a member of faculty in the Department of Art, Theory and Practice at Northwestern University. Fernandes addresses issues of freedom, sanctuary and social solidarity in his work, which has been shown at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, MOMA, the Getty Museum in LA., the National Gallery of Canada, the 2019 Whitney Biennial and many more. Fernandes is working on a new piece commissioned by the Richmond Art Gallery at Capture Photography Festival in April 2021. Brendan is represented by Monique Meloche.

BRENDAN FERNANDES
布蘭登·費爾南德斯
INACTION
不行動

展期:2021年2月12日至4月3日

由列治文美術館與衛斯理大學的齊爾卡畫廊聯合呈現

藝術家布蘭登·費爾南德斯的個展「不行動」探索了集體行動推動改變的潛力。本次展覽包括兩個主要部分:一系列九個的新委託製作的雕塑作品,和一件名為《為相機而作的自由落體》的雙屏投影作品。

費爾南德斯與建築和設計公司Norman Kelley合作,設計了一套可移動舞蹈支架和平台,讓本地的舞者在展覽現場啟動這些裝置。墊子,繩索,地毯,可樞轉支撐結構,和方格子等元素能讓人想起作訓練和娛樂用途的公共場所,例如體育館和操場。費爾南德斯的配套編舞參考了童年遊戲和專業舞蹈的熱身運動,將會在展覽期間的公開表演中指導舞者在移動中與雕塑合為一體。表演定於三月和四月間在美術館中進行。請訪問我們的網站以獲取更多信息。

與上述作品配對的是名為《為相機而作的自由落體》的雙屏投影作品。該作品從一場名為《自由落體》的2017年現場表演演變而來,是藝術家對2016年在美國佛羅里達州奧蘭多的Pulse夜店發生的針對酷兒有色人種顧客的大規模槍擊事件的回應。這件作品探索了「跌落」這一動作以及其含義。影像中的16名舞者在行動和停止中一齊展示了身體跌落在舞台上的時刻。近距離鏡頭與迷人的俯瞰視角交織在一起,創造出萬花筒般的圖像,讓人聯想到電影導演巴斯比·伯克利(Busby Berkeley)的視覺風格。

2020年的社會動盪,例如新冠疫情和「黑命攸關」運動(Black Lives Matter),促進了圍繞人權與平等的全球性對話。「不行動」不僅反映了當前的時代背景,思考了身體和生命如何受到系統暴力的影響,還探索了以集會,抗議和集體活動方式推動積極變化的潛力。

Above: Image courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago.
WATCH: Artist Brendan Fernandes discusses his work in the "Inaction" exhibition.
WATCH: Richmond Art Gallery presents "Inaction," a new solo show by renowned Canadian contemporary artist Brendan Fernandes, on display from February 12 to April 3, 2021. The exhibition, co-produced with the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan University, is RAG’s first collaboration with a U.S.-based institution. "Inaction" addresses violence against queer and POC bodies, as well as the potential for change through collective action. This video shows excerpts from the artist's two-channel video "Free Fall: for Camera" (2019).

Publication

Inaction



Edited by Alhena Katsof

An in-depth survey of the sculptural and performance-based installation by the internationally recognized artist.

This publication is an intimate exploration of Brendan Fernandes’s installation and performance Inaction and the film Free Fall for Camera, which were co-presented by the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, United States and the Richmond Art Gallery in British Columbia, Canada.

It creates a richly illustrated archive of the project by bringing together photographic documentation, architectural drawings, an original dance score, essays, and a conversation between the artist, featured dancers and the exhibition curators.

The choreographies in Inaction are based on children’s games like hide-and-seek, follow-the-leader, and other forms of call-and-response. This publication will engage these concepts using the movement of the pages as an extension of its graphic design.

More so, Inaction explores the political capacity of notions like movement and stillness, wherein dance is considered a tool for collective understanding.


Authors: Joshua Chambers-Letson, Kelly I. Chung, Amanda Jane Graham
Purchase for $40.00
See all publications.

Hours

Sunday 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Monday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Tuesday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Wednesday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Thursday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Friday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Saturday 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Closed on statutory holidays.

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Richmond Cultural Centre
7700 Minoru Gate
Richmond, BC  V6Y 1R8
Canada Line Station: Richmond-Brighouse

604-247-8363
gallery@richmond.ca

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