October 23 – November 20, 2022
Opening Reception: October 23, 4-6 pm. RSVP.
Finissage & Open Studios: November 20, 12-6 pm
Curated by: Vanessa Seis
Artists: David Bowen, Eunsun Choi, Romina Chuls, Sam HEYDT, AnnaMaria Pinaka, Paula R Rodriguez, and Abigail Tankersley
(BROOKLYN, NY) Overcoming fatalism requires high doses of creativity and ingenuity from a wide range of different voices. Un-Script-It, an exhibition curated by Vanessa Seis opening at KUNSTRAUM this October, sets out to inspire change by highlighting seven national and international artists that responded to an open call earlier this year and whose work address contemporary socio, political, and environmental topics through three-dimensional work, textiles, painting, and collage.
In a post-pandemic time marked by domestic and international political conflicts, culture wars, climate disasters, and economic instability, the media is quick to perpetuate that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable—a seemingly scripted and uncontrollable reality.
Yet there are millions of people who rise every day and fight for change and reconciliation on a macro and micro level. So, what drives them to re-write the script? And how do the artists in this exhibition quietly but bluntly re-write it?
Through her large-scale machine-knit stretched painting “Biologists Tend to Look at Death as Means for Life to Regenerate” Tennessee artist Abigail Tankersley visualizes the circular, overwhelming thought of death in a way that is not fearful but rather gracious. Colorful and playful, she places emphasis on the way traumatic and painful experiences can find a transition into something more inspiring and maybe even beautiful, through ways of spirituality and reflection.
Exploring social concerns such as mental health, specifically as it relates to her cultural background and issues of identity, Mexican-born, London-based artist Paula R Rodriguez takes the viewer to a peaceful, decolonized, and deeply rooted place in her work “Stavroz, Some Place Else.” Evoking the magical realism of Latin America, her work pays homage to the richness of its native traditions.
Chroniclers of our time and drivers of change, the artists presented in Un-Script-It were seemingly grappling with and gravitating towards similar themes at similar moments in time. While they approach overlapping topics such as climate change, mental health, and women’s rights, from very different practices and angles, the works in this exhibition all remind us that we are at a point in time where we can rewrite the script, on behalf of society, nature, and ourselves.
