"Jacklighting"

January 27, 2020

French artist Anne-Charlotte Finel presents Jacklighting at The Chimney for her first solo show in the US. Referring to the nocturnal hunting practice of shining bright lights throughout dark fields in order to momentarily stun animals, Jacklighting proves itself both weird and wonderful. Finel's work, focused on spaces affected by unnatural lighting systems, is composed of four reels. And with each video being manipulated both digitally and physically, the story from viewer to viewer may be rather ambiguous.

In Triste Champignonniste (Sad Mushroom Farmer), 2017, Finel films a mushroom farm in a former underground gypsum quarry—although it may look more like the ground for a nuclear bomb shelter as bursting shapes and foggy landscapes are cast upon a pink velvet backdrop. Only upon closer inspection may one gradually discern the actual rotting of elements played upon the deteriorating pixels of the film for a versatile look on decomposition.

As is the case with all of the show’s remaining components, nothing is quite as it seems in Jacklighting. The rhythm of the subjects and the landscapes of the environment speak to the title’s permanent state through the relationship between man and nature, attesting to Finel’s expertise in observing the unordinary and inclination to search for truth in the otherwise vastly unseen.

Text by Caroline Brown
Photos courtesy of The Chimney and the artist; Photography by Reggie Shiobara

Jacklighting is on view at The Chimney until February 23, 2020.

Art

'Tomorrow Will Still Be Ours,' an exhibition benefitting the ACLU

February 08, 2017

It's the end of days. Or at least it feels like it. So Gavin Brown's enterprise in Harlem is taking action. Through February 23rd, the legendary gallery is running an exhibition benefitting the ACLU. Hopefully titled Tomorrow Will Still Be Ours, it includes artists like Rashid Johnson, Danny Lyon, Karl Holmqvist, Lawrence Weiner, and Cindy Sherman. And alongside Tomorrow, which is described as "a festival of visionary ideas, activism, and the arts," the gallery is also running a series of politically charged seminars, called "What Will Be Different," curated by Brian Tate. The events kick off tonight with a conversation on black activism, and continue with conversations on religious and environmental activism. Stay tuned for more coverage, and head to Gavin Brown for more info.

Tomorrow Will Still Be Ours runs through Feburary 23rd at Gavin Brown's enterprise, 429 W 127th Street

Art

‘Horse Day:’ exploring the black cowboy

The black cowboy is a traditional, classic figure of American history that’s often been forgotten about and glazed over. But the Studio Museum in Harlem is paying tribute to them, in an exhibition appropriately titled Black Cowboy. Curated by Amanda Hunt, the exhibition features artists Deana Lawson, Chandra McCormick, Ron Tarver, Brad Trent, and filmmaker Khalil Joseph (one of the main directors of Beyoncé’s Lemonade, which also showcased black cowboys).

One of our favorite works came from Algerian-born, Paris-based artist Mohamed Bourouissa. His 2015 video Horse Day features the riders of the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club of West Philadelphia, and it’s a necessary revision of the traditional Western.

“I was really interested in the representation of the cowboy," he said over the phone from France. "For us, every representation of the cowboy was only white. So when I started looking into this I was really fascinated, and I was really curious about the history of the black cowboy. When I started to do my research, I saw that it was something really traditional and common. But the idea that we have on the outside makes it feel exceptional, because the representation doesn’t really exist. It’s almost like they were hiding in plain sight.”

To make Horse Day, Bourouissa became fully immersed in the culture of the club. He stayed in Philadelphia (which also happens to be Hunt’s hometown) for nine months, renting a room from one of the riders. “For me it was really important to be there and understand how I wanted to film this experience with these guys,” he said. “There’s also a lot of history in the city that I was really curious to understand. It was really important to experience how people live there.”

I didn’t want to come into this place and just take pictures and go away.

Filming was somewhat difficult at first. “When you want to create the connection between the artist and the rider it was difficult, because they didn’t really understand why I wanted to do an art project,” said Bourouissa. “It’s not digestible.” But he was adamant about making a film that was an accurate representation of the riders—something that came from attempts at joining the community.

“I didn’t want to just take a simple photo of [the riders]; I wanted to work with them and really engage with them,” the artist explained. “Some of them were really engaged, and at the end of the of the day, everyone was surprised and they asked me to do it again. They were really happy to participate. It was something different—I didn’t want to come into this place and just take pictures and go away.” The effort shows.

Black Cowboy is on view at the Studio Museum in Harlem through March 5th.

All Horse Day stills courtesy of the artist and Galerie Kamel Mennour, Paris/London.

Art

Jonathan Ellery: A Bewildered Herd

Is this book a comment on democracy?

Yes it is. It is also about my disappointment with the notion of a democracy. The title of the book comes originally from Walter Lippmann (Public Opinion, 1922 – mass man as the bewildered herd, spectators not participants in a democracy) whose words were paraphrased by Noam Chomsky in his book Media Control (2002). It seems to be so easy to control a herd, to feed them what they need to hear. Whether it's the truth or not doesn't matter.

Is the United States a democracy?

I guess so. What that means anymore is up for grabs. A collective intellect isn't winning the day. In fact it's now seen as a negative in the mainstream narrative. I think the idea and functionality of a democracy needs to be worked on because as it stands, it's failing. Not only is it failing, it's becoming dangerously problematic with some devastating repercussions potentially coming our way. Having said all of that, I do feel positive and believe that it's solvable.

What is freedom to you?

To live my life outside of a preordained construct that was given to me by the family I was born into, and the country I was brought up in.

Why duck tape?

I love working with duck tape and it's inherent aesthetic. As well has having both utilitarian and ubiquitous qualities; it also comes with some dark 'luggage', restraint, kidnapping, sexual deviancy…that sort of thing.

What do you believe in?

Fuck me. That's a big question. The truth. That will be my answer.

What don’t you believe in?

Fairies at the bottom of the garden, gold at the end of rainbows, unicorns, and sex after ten years in a relationship…

Do you feel a social responsibility with the medium and reach you have achieved?

Not really. I try and interpret things in my own way and hope to communicate with as many people as possible around the world. I don't seek to influence. I enjoy the conversation and mischief making along the way.

I have a feeling that you work at a relatively quick pace from the moment you get the idea until you make it happen. Please tell me if I’m wrong?

You're wrong to a certain degree. With A Bewildered Herd for instance it's been in my head now for over two years, but has funnily enough come out slap bang in the middle of Brexit and Trump. I guess it may look as though I'm responding to the now, but in reality it started quite some time ago.

What is your fascination with books? Which book haven’t you done yet that you know you have to do?

I have always loved books. It's something I feel I can do well and feel intuitively comfortable doing. I like impossible books, almost as an act of defiance. I like books that a regular publisher wouldn't touch with a bargepole. I like the stamina that's required.

Do you practice self-censorship? Is it part of the art in your work to ask/tell just enough?

I try not to censor, which in a way is central to my work. I don't really worry about upsetting anyone, though my intention is not to upset people. However, the truth or a reality that someone doesn't want to hear can indeed be upsetting.

I’m curious about your fascination with the cock ring? Please explain it to me, do you recommend the use of it?

I had a show called The Human Condition, which was exhibited in London in 2011. It consisted of a vey long, simple, white cabinet in which there was a single line of rings. At one end of the cabinet were rings that you would wear on your fingers; children's princess rings, engagement rings, wedding rings, a ring passed down through a family, or an indulgent expensive bling ring. At the other end of the cabinet were rings that you wear on your cock or around your balls. These rings are very sexualized and used for sexual and visual gratification. I was interested in the friction between these two sets of rings. Soon after, I did two very large-scale cock ring sculptures, which voiced my cynicism towards certain aspects of the art world. The first was cast in iron and was called 'The Charles Saatchi Donut Cock Ring'. The second I used spun aluminum as the material and it was called 'The Jay Joplin Heavy Metal Cock Ring'. I'm still very fond of them both.

Does your family understand your art?

My mother has a growing appreciation of it. My brother, not so much. My niece and nephew are showing some positive signs, which makes me happy.

What is your next project?

It's called Populism/Ellery. It's a book with over eight hundred pages available from Browns Editions in May. It's political in nature and is quite ridiculous.