anxiety
DECEMBER 3, 2020
Dennis Oppenheim, Parallel Stress, 1970
"The exhibition Anxiety came about the week of the elections. Like many of us, I was anxious, fearful, and uncertain about what would come of the future. I was not in a space to make art, but I was in the space to see art that zoned in on those same feelings. I went through my virtual collection and noticed I was drawn to works that were red, black, and white, and works that contained words. I saw the election week in those three colors, red, black, and white.
Ciarra K. Walters, Untitled, 2018
The first color I noticed was red. Red is the color of the Root Chakra, which is the chakra responsible for grounding.
It regulates feelings of safety, survival, and security.
Mona Hatoum, Hot Spot III, 2009
Alf Lechner, Sinking Bodies, 1984
Red is the only color in the spectrum that provokes the strongest emotion within us. It is a color that represents passion, danger, and seduction.
The week of the elections, red represented fear.
Linda Montano & Tehching Hsieh, Art/Life: One Year Performance (A.K.A. Rope Piece), July 4, 1983 - July 3, 1984
Mona Hatoum, Over My Dead Body, 1988-2002
Lorraine O'Grady, Cutting Out CONYT 26, 1977/2017
I saw the blood that could be shed from the results of the election. I saw race. Black and white were the two most important colors in The United States and 2020 was making that crystal clear.
Those two colors represented division.
They represented the gray area we were living in.
Lorna Simpson, Untitled from ACT UP Art Box, 1994
Peter Macdiarmid, Protesters Gather in Tahrir Square, Feburary 1, 2011
Matt Keegan, Have you seen my language?, 2016
Jake Irvine, The Silver Bridge, 2003
Joan Jonas, Mirror Performance I, 1969
Pope.L., Foraging (The Air Itself/Dark Version)., 1995
Uncertainty brings anxiety. Anxiety comes from not being present.
Anxiousness comes from the feelings of having a lack of safety and security.
These artworks dive into that chaos. They can guide your experiences of death, loneliness, and emptiness. They can highlight the feelings of resistance and honesty. Some projects violence and overall, life's fragility from it all.
Ciarra K. Walters, Untitled, 2018
John Langdon, America is Broken From Occuprint Portfolio, 2012
These works may calm your anxiety or heighten it. I hope this exhibition makes you think, feel, and believe whatever it is you need to believe at this moment, right now.
Renee Cox, The Discreet Charms of the Bougie, 2009
Kudzanai Chiurai, Vote at Own Risk, 2009
Lieko Shiga, Garden of Tears, 2010
Kerry James Marshall, Untitled, 2004
Remember, anxiety comes from not being present.
Janaina Tschape, (From the Series, "100 Little Deaths"), 2002
James Turrell, Frontal Passage, 1994
Karimah Ashadu, King of Boys (Abattoir of Makoko), 2015
Art can pull you back in when you start to spiral out.
Anish Kapor, Monochrome Grave Red, 2018
Ciarra K. Walters, Untitled, 2018
Eleanor Antin, Time;s Arrow, 2017
Liliana Porter, Untitled (Self-portrait with square), 1973
Sara Cwynar, Cut (from Pictures the Times of Your Life),2013
George Condo, Facebook, 2017-2018
Louise Bourgeois, Untitiled, no. 17 of 24, from the portolio, Hours of the Day, 2006
Mona Hatoum, Turbulance (black), 2013
Vong Phaophanit, Line Writing, 1994
thank you for viewing.