2020: Remake/Remodel
REMAKE/REMODEL
Curated by Amelia Biewald & Jason Clay.
The seemingly endless storm of recent events has me thinking of ways artists interpret and process their surroundings. The creation of art reflects the artist’s response to their world, and that can be both beautiful and ugly. I have been revisiting the often politically charged and highly critical works of Edward and Nancy Reddin Kienholz, and their impactful and sometimes disturbing reflections — on racial discrimination, war, woman’s rights, religion, the environment and moral hypocrisy. Their large-scale installations or tableaux are assemblages of fragments of cultural objects and detritus with found images, advertisements, photographs, text, furniture, interiors, plaster casts, and animals. These objects hint at multiple layers of life experience and our surrounding society. These adulterated and repurposed materials spoke directly to the inhumanity and social injustices of 20th century society.
Fast forward to the inhumanity of the 21st century: little has changed, and it needs to. The Royal is seeking artists who strive to REMAKE / REMODEL in these chaotic times. While documenting this current turmoil is important, we’d like to also think of what comes after. How do you reinvent or alter imagery or objects in your work? How does your process of making uncover further narrative or meaning? How do you reflect on your world? Through art and creativity perhaps we can look for a common ground and come together to reinvent a better future.
Featured artists: Nicole Awai, Julie Blume, Michael Pribich, Esperanza Cortez, Kris Rac, Cecile Chong, Grace Graupe-Pillard, Yuliya Lanin, Lilian Garcia-Roig, Julien Tomasello, Tessa Krieg, Elena Chestnykh, & Benjamin Cabral.