Terry Adkins
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Terry Adkins by
One of the great conceptual artists of the twenty-first century, Terry Adkins (1953-2014) was renowned for his pioneering work across mediums, from sculpture, drawing, and site-specific installation to photography, video, and performance. Terry Adkins: Infinity is Always Less Than One accompanies the first institutional posthumous exhibition of Adkins's sculptural production. While Adkins is often recognized for his musical and performative practice, this exhibition focuses on his complex memorials and monuments to historical figures. The exhibition showcases four of his major series, dedicated to four distinct figures: Bessie Smith, John Brown, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jimi Hendrix. These series are presented alongside a group of early sculptures to reveal the development of the Adkins's mature practice. The exhibition highlights Adkins's crucial contributions to sculpture and to cultural protest, featuring major works that have not been viewed in decades. It explores significant periods and influences in Adkins's career, beginning with transitional hand-wrought sculptures and continuing with his major immersive installations. His often elegiac and always resonant objects challenge dominant historical narratives and prompt a rethinking of ways of being and moving in the world that are shaped by the legacies of displacement and the sociability and community that happen despite it. Adkins's work also enlarges the historical legacies of the postwar avant-garde while reminding us of the immaterial legacies that are passed on through ritual and sound. Contributors. Alex Gartenfeld, Kobena Mercer, Gean Moreno, Nizan Shaked, and Greg Tate A Publication of ICA Miami Distributed by Duke University Press
Call Number: SMFA: NB237.A335 A4 2019
Terry Adkins by
Born in 1953 in Washington, DC, Terry Adkins grew up deeply invested in visual art, music, and language. His approach to art making is similar to that of a composer, and Recital was conceived as a theatrical score that punctuates and demarcates space, creating interplay among pieces in different media and from diverse bodies of work. The works of art in Recital pay homage to the legacies of a number of immortal and enigmatic figures such as Bessie Smith, W. E. B. Du Bois, John Brown, Matthew Henson, and John Coltrane, among others. Adkins's creative research not only intends to resuscitate his chosen subjects from historical erasure, but also to shed light on willfully neglected or lesser-known aspects of their biographies, such as Jimi Hendrix's military training as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne, or the question of Beethoven's Moorish ancestry. In his sculpture, photography, and video, Adkins transforms and re-purposes a range of found materials, archival imagery, and reclaimed actions in a process that he calls potential disclosure. This book features detailed biographical information, an interview with the artist, and a selection of Adkins's writings.Published in association with the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College
Call Number: SMFA: NB237.A335 A4 2012
Double Consciousness by
Double Consciousness explores the conceptual art practices of African-American artists over the past 35 years, using as its underpinning, the reflexive nature of art-making which emerged with the avant-garde of the late 1960s. The exhibition chronicles conceptual art as practice of ideas as manifested through the use of everyday materials and objects--performance as action; interventions or critiques; as well as writings. It also focuses on the evolution of conceptual art in subsequent decades as a tool to deconstruct existing precepts regarding gender and race, and as a strategy in presenting ideas regarding the complexities of contemporary society and how artists skillfully negotiate these complexities as it relates to themselves and the community at large. The exhibition's concept is an aesthetic contribution to the rethinking of DuBois's double conciousness theory that asserts that African-Americans are no longer relegated to looking at themselves through the eyes of others, but rather through their own gaze. The catalogue features a chronology of significant events that have helped shape the language and ideas of artists over the last century as well as an anthology by a few artists in the exhibition--Adrian Piper, Charles Gaines, Arthur Jafa, Howardena Pindell, to name a few. Participating artists include Terry Adkins, Edgar Arceneaux, Sanford Biggers, Ellen Gallagher, Jennie C. Jones, Senga Nengudi, Maren Hassinger, Gary Simmons, Nari Ward, and others.
Call Number: SMFA and Tisch: N6538.N5 D59 2005
Open Access
Sarah Hennies
Tufts Resources
Open Access
Tom Johnson
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Open Access
Conlon Nancarrow
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Encounters with Conlon Nancarrow by
Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997) was an American-Mexican composer whose works for the player piano exhibit a level of innovation and complexity which remains unmatched even today--his catalogue of works is often considered the Well-Tempered Clavier of the twentieth century. Encounters with Conlon Nancarrow, by Jürgen Hocker, is the first extensive biography of Nancarrow. Hocker gives insight to the life and personality of the often reclusive Nancarrow, making use of many as-yet-unpublished sources and interviews as well as a timeline and a comprehensive catalogue of Nancarrow's works. Encounters with Conlon Nancarrow is an indispensable reference book for musicians, musicologists, and player piano collectors, but it is also sure to appeal to anyone with a particular interest in American contemporary music.
Call Number: Music Library: ML410.N2634 H6313 2012
The Music of Conlon Nancarrow by
The expatriate American experimentalist composer Conlon Nancarrow is increasingly recognized as having had one of the most innovative musical minds of the twentieth century. His music, almost all written for player piano, is the most rhythmically complex ever written, couched in intricate contrapuntal systems using up to twelve different tempi at the same time. Yet despite its complexity, Nancarrow's music drew its early influences from the jazz pianism of Art Tatum and Earl Hines and from the rhythms of Indian music; Nancarrow's whirlwinds of notes are joyously physical in their energy. Composed in almost complete isolation from 1940, this music has achieved international fame only in the last few years. The author has discussed Nancarrow's music with him, and analyses sixty-five works, virtually the composer's complete output.
Call Number: Music Library: MT92.N36 G36 1995
- “Conlon Nancarrow: Studies for Player Piano No. 1 and No. 7” (video) Recorded live from the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, this concert features the leading international exponents of twentieth-century and contemporary music, conducted by their musical director, Jonathan Nott. The programme played constitutes a journey through American music of the second half of the last century and includes Reich's Eight Lines; two Studies for Player Piano by Nancarrow; and two works by John Adams-his clarinet concerto Gnarly Buttons (soloist André Trouttet) and his Chamber Symphony.
- Margaret E. Thomas, “Conlon Nancarrow, “Hot” Jazz, and the Principle of Collective Improvisation” This paper explores the possibility that Conlon Nancarrow’s connection to jazz runs more deeply and widely throughout the Studies for Player Piano than is typically recognized through the clear stylistic allusions to jazz found in a few of the Studies. I propose that an awareness of this deeper connection—as suggested by Nancarrow’s profound appreciation for early jazz, especially that of Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines—might prompt a new and rewarding mode of listening to the Studies, an improvisational mode. The principle of collective improvisation, important in both early jazz of the 1920s and in “free jazz” of the 1960s, was valued by Nancarrow, and his discussion of it intimates an aesthetic stance that runs through his music.
Open Access
Aki Onda
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Ensemble by
New York-based Christian Marclay has been a pioneering DJ since the 1970s, when he began to rock turntables and even old gramophones--bending, breaking and mixing records in the creation of a brand new instrument. Since then, in addition to DJing, he has exhibited his sound-based artwork internationally. Ensemble is a group exhibition of sound art at the ICA, which Marclay organized. Likening his approach to that of a composer rather than a curator, Marclay chose sculpture and installations based on their sound quality and sonic compatibility. An ambient sound environment resulted, with iconic works by such artists as Harry Bertoia, Yoko Ono and Michelangelo Pistoletto, mixed in with newer pieces. This publication includes a CD featuring a once-in-a-lifetime gathering of artist/musicians, including Shelly Hirsch, Alison Knowles, Alan Licht, Marina Rosenfeld and Mika Tajima "playing" the show.
Call Number: SMFA: NB198.5.S68 E57 2008
Open Access
Black Quantum Futurism
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Boogie down Predictions by
Essays that explore the connections between time, representation, and identity within hip-hop culture. "This book, edited by Roy Christopher, is a moment. It is the deconstructed sample, the researched lyrical metaphors, the aha moment on the way to hip-hop enlightenment. Hip-hop permeates our world, and yet it is continually misunderstood. Hip-hop's intersections with Afrofuturism and science fiction provide fascinating touchpoints that enable us to see our todays and tomorrows. This book can be, for the curious, a window into a hip-hop-infused Alter Destiny--a journey whose spaceship you embarked on some time ago. Are you engaging this work from the gaze of the future? Are you the data thief sailing into the past to U-turn to the now? Or are you the unborn child prepping to build the next universe? No, you're the superhero. Enjoy the journey."--from the introduction by Ytasha L. Womack Through essays by some of hip-hop's most interesting thinkers, theorists, journalists, writers, emcees, and DJs, Boogie Down Predictions embarks on a quest to understand the connections between time, representation, and identity within hip-hop culture and what that means for the culture at large. Introduced by Ytasha L. Womack, author of Afrofuturism- The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture, this book explores these temporalities, possible pasts, and further futures from a diverse, multilayered, interdisciplinary perspective.
Call Number: SMFA: ML3531 B66 2022
- Chet Pancake (dir.), Queer Geniusstreaming film
Open Access
Nikita Gale
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Nikita Gale: END of SUBJECT by
Immersing the audience in sound and light Nikita Gale's END OF SUBJECT subverts understandings of viewership by prompting spectators to question their subjecthood within 52 Walker's site-specific installation. Creating an aurally and visually rich environment, Gale engages with the architecture of the surrounding space, stimulating all senses through site-specific installation and muses on the boundaries of performance art. Considering and fracturing the physical space of the installation, the artist employs abolitionist ideology and institutional critique to simultaneously rupture and rebuild facets of the art institution. With an introduction by Ebony L. Haynes and a suite of poems by Harmony Holiday, this publication considers Gale's multidisciplinary approach to address historical hierarchies of visibility. A text by the esteemed artist Andrea Fraser offers reflections on the various interventions at play during a gathering held in the exhibition.
Call Number: SMFA: N6537.G3395 A4 2023
Nikita Gale by
Chisenhale Gallery launches the second title in its Chisenhale Books series, Nikita Gale: IN A DREAM YOU CLIMB THE STAIRS. Marking the finale of Gale's Chisenhale exhibition, her first artist's book contains an intergenerational conversation with conceptual artist Barbara Kruger and a short meditation by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Hilton Als. These feature alongside contributions by artist and Chisenhale Gallery alum P. Staff and Dr. Bénédicte Boisseron, author of Afro-Dog: Blackness and the Animal Question. Through the lens of a multifaceted practice, Gale examines themes of invisibility and audibility, interrogating the dynamic between performer and spectator, structure, and decay. Produced with great care, this extraordinary book is reflective of the artist's practice. Four visual essays, hand-annotated by Gale - 'Absence', 'Ruin', 'Silence', 'Dog' - explore themes central to the work. Nikita Gale: IN A DREAM YOU CLIMB THE STAIRS deploys throw-outs, gatefolds, five different types of papers, and a subtly disruptive design to delve into Nikita Gale's art. Text by Zoé Whitley, P.Staff, Hilton Als, Barbara Kruger and Dr. Bénédicte Boisseron. Book Design & Creative Direction by Billie Temple.
Call Number: SMFA: N6537.G3395 A4 2022
Open Access
Christine Sun Kim
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Christine Sun Kim : draw a blank = blank ziehen by Call Number: SMFA: N6537.K56 A4 2023
Christine Sun Kim: Oh Me Oh My by
Drawings, videos and murals center the experience of the Deaf community in an auditory world In this monograph, the groundbreaking work of the American-born, Berlin-based artist Christine Sun Kim (born 1980) is explored through essays, short texts and reflections, an interview and abundant large-scale images of Kim's work. An artist who foregrounds the visual, physical and political dimension of sound, Kim challenges the notion that sound is solely an auditory experience. Kim, whose first language is American Sign Language (ASL), uses elements from various information systems, such as musical notation, infographics and ASL, to develop a dryly humorous visual vocabulary in a variety of mediums, including performance, drawing, video, lectures and more. She aims to draw attention to the power imbalances between the hearing world and the Deaf community, as well as to celebrate the generative possibilities and creative energy that can arise from interactions between people with different positionalities and modes of communication.
Call Number: SMFA: ND237.K56 A4 2023
Open Access
Raven Chacon, Curator
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Open Access
Candice Hopkins, Curator
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Water, Kinship, Belief by
The inaugural Toronto Biennial of Art in 2019, titled The Shoreline Dilemma, was the first edition of a two-part biennial that traced interconnected narratives around the city's ever-changing shoreline. These connections sought to reveal strategies of resistance against industrial-colonial systems, uncover polyphonic histories sedimented around the shoreline, and open up relations between the human and more-than-human. To extend this artistic thinking and expand notions of relationality, in 2022, the second edition, titled What Water Knows, The Land Remembers, moved inland to follow tributaries and ravines, both above ground and hidden, that shape this place. Water, Kinship, Beliefis a "third" site, a place where the continuities, resonances, and dissonances between Biennial editions are extended. Its pages become a means to bring together the artists, artworks, collaborators, and ideas that have together informed the exhibitions, irrespective of chronology, dispensing with categories, and part of a greater whole. Through its content and unique design, it is both a generative guide to the exhibitions and a Biennial site of its own, presenting new artistic relations that course through the book like tributaries.
Call Number: SMFA: N6547.T67 W38 2022
An Indigenous Present by
A monumental gathering of more than 60 contemporary artists, photographers, musicians, writers and more, showcasing diverse approaches to Indigenous concepts, forms and mediums -- A Wall Street Journal 2023 holiday gift guide pick This landmark volume is a gathering of Native North American contemporary artists, musicians, filmmakers, choreographers, architects, writers, photographers, designers and more. Conceived by Jeffrey Gibson, a renowned artist of Mississippi Choctaw and Cherokee descent, An Indigenous Present presents an increasingly visible and expanding field of Indigenous creative practice. It centers individual practices, while acknowledging shared histories, to create a visual experience that foregrounds diverse approaches to concept, form and medium as well as connection, influence, conversation and collaboration. An Indigenous Present foregrounds transculturalism over affiliation and contemporaneity over outmoded categories. Artists include: Neal Ambrose-Smith, Teresa Baker, Natalie Ball, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Rebecca Belmore, Andrea Carlson, Nani Chacon, Raven Chacon, Dana Claxton, Melissa Cody, Chris T. Cornelius, Lewis deSoto, Beau Dick, Demian DineYazhi', Wally Dion, Divide and Dissolve, Korina Emmerich, Ka'ila Farrell-Smith, Yatika Starr Fields, Nicholas Galanin, Raven Halfmoon, Elisa Harkins, Luzene Hill, Anna Hoover, Sky Hopinka, Chaz John, Emily Johnson, Brian Jungen, Brad Kahlhamer, Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Adam Khalil, Zack Kahlil, Kite, Layli Long Soldier, Erica Lord, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Tanya Lukin Linklater, James Luna, Dylan McLaughlin, Meryl McMaster, Caroline Monnet, Audie Murray, New Red Order, Jamie Okuma, Laura Ortman, Katherine "KP" Paul/Black Belt Eagle Scout, Postcommodity, Wendy Red Star, Eric-Paul Riege, Cara Romero, Sara Siestreem, Rose B. Simpson, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie, Anna Tsouhlarakis, Arielle Twist, Marie Watt, Dyani White Hawk and Zoon a.k.a. Daniel Glen Monkman.
Call Number: SMFA: N6538.A4 I67 2023
Open Access