Perilous Bodies
Curated by Jaishri Abichandani and Natasha Becker
The trilogy of exhibitions in the gallery’s inaugural year offer varied interpretations on the theme of Utopian Imagination. The exhibitions bring together a diverse group of international artists who draw on craft, activism, data visualization, and agitprop to point the way to a more just future.
Perilous Bodies, the first exhibition in the series, includes photography, sculpture, video, installation, and performance by artists using their own cultural traditions to address oppression. Exploring societal violence fueled by xenophobia, racism, class, and gender inequality, these artworks make powerful statements about ideas and realities we are quick to turn away from: black bodies, refugee camps, the detritus of borderlands, broken earth. Through these works, the artists seek to transform a world in peril into one we all want to live in.
The Utopian Imagination exhibition trilogy concept was developed by Jaishri Abichandani.
Hannah Brontë
Dineo Seshee Bopape
Margarita Cabrera
Mahwish Chishty
David Antonio Cruz
Tiffany Chung
Nona Faustine
Guillermo Galindo
vanessa german
Mohamad Hafez
Otobong Nkanga
Jasmeen Patheja
Sara Rahbar
Wendy Red Star
Teresa Serrano
Tenzing Rigdol
Dread Scott
Thenmozhi Soundararajan
Barthélémy Toguo
Exhibition installation information
Barthélémy Toguo
(Cameroon, b. 1967, lives and works in Cameroon and France)
Road to Exile, 2018
Wooden boat, fabric bags, glass bottles and plastic containers
92 x 64 x 140 inches
Courtesy of the Galerie Lelong & Co. Paris-New York and Banjoun Station, Cameroon
Photo Sebastian Bach
Mohamad Hafez
(Syria, b. 1984, lives and works in the United States)
Damascene Athan Series, 2017
Mixed media
34 x 24 x 8 inches each
Courtesy of the Artist
Photo Sebastian Bach
![Dineo Seshee Bopape
b.1981, South Africa
"Untitled (Winnie re-enactment)" from Untitled (Of Occult Instability)[Feelings], 2016-18
Mixed-media installation](https://www.fordfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/untitled-winnie-re-enactment.jpg)
Dineo Seshee Bopape
(South Africa, b. 1981)
“Untitled (Winnie re-enactment)” from Untitled (Of Occult Instability)[Feelings], 2016-2018
Mixed-media installation
Courtesy of the Artist and Sfeir-Semier Gallery, Beirut/Hamburg
Photo Sebastian Bach
Sara Rahbar
(Iran, b. 1976, lives and works in the United States)
America, Flag #54, 2017
74 x 37 inches
Land of the Free, Flag #55, 2017
64 x 40 inches
Collected vintage objects on vintage US flags
Courtesy of Carbon 12, © Sara Rahbar
Photo Sebastian Bach
Mahwish Chishty
(Pakistan, b. 1980, lives and works in the United States)
Hellfire II, 2017- 2018
Over 400 cast foam replicas of hellfire missiles
Dimensions variable
Courtesy of the Artist
Photo Sebastian Bach
Tiffany Chung
(Vietnam, b. 1969, lives and works in the United States)
finding one’s shadow in ruins and rubble, 2014
Handcrafted mahogany wooden boxes, found photos printed on plexiglass, LED lights, electrical wire
13 x 144 x 40 inches
Courtesy of the Artist and Tyler Rollins Fine Art, NY
Photo Sebastian Bach
Tenzing Rigdol
(Nepal, b. 1982, lives and works in the United States)
Bringing Tibet Home, 2013
Documentary film
1:22:00
Courtesy of the Artist
Photo Sebastian Bach
Otobong Nkanga
(Nigeria, b. 1974, lives and works in Belgium)
The Weight of Scars, 2015
Viscose, wool, mohair, and cotton
99 x 241 inches
Private Collection
Photo Sebastian Bach
David Antonio Cruz
(United States, b. 1974)
inmysleeplesssolitudetonight, portrait of the florida girls, 2019
Oil and enamel on wood
48 x 72 inches
Courtesy of the Artist
Photo Sebastian Bach
Thenmozhi Soundararajan
(United States, b. 1976)
Ama, Amachi, and Mother. We are still here, 2019.
Copper, wood, and ink
48 x 36 x 2 inches each
Courtesy of the Artist
Photo Sebastian Bach
Margarita Cabrera
(Mexico, b. 1973, lives and works in the United States)
Space in Between – Nopal #5, 2007
Border patrol uniform fabric, copper wire, thread, terra cotta pot
50 x 51 x 49 inches
Courtesy of the Artist and Talley Dunn Gallery
Photo Sebastian Bach
Dread Scott
(United States, b. 1965)
The Blue Wall of Violence, 1999
Installation: targets, coffin, police batons, motors, steel pipe, cast arms, wallet, candy bar, squirt gun, squeegee, house keys
8 x 16 x 4 feet
Courtesy of the Artist
Photo Sebastian Bach
Nona Faustine
(United States, b. 1977)
Demeter’s Morning, 2019
Archival pigment print
60 x 84 inches
Courtesy of the Artist
Photo Sebastian Bach
Wendy Red Star
(United States/Apsáalooke/Crow, b. 1981)
Coyote Decoy with Pendleton Blankets, 2016
Four serape Pendleton blankets, wood pallets, coyote hunting decoy
54 x 40 x 48 inches
Courtesy of the Artist
Photo Sebastian Bach
Hannah Brontë
(Australia, b. 1991)
Umma’s Tongue–molten at 6000°, 2018
HD video
4:50
Courtesy of the Artist
Photo Sebastian Bach
Teresa Serrano
(Mexico, b. 1936, lives and works in Mexico and the United States)
La Piñata, 2003
Single-channel video
5:45
Courtesy of the Artist
Jasmeen Patheja
(India, b. 1979)
Meet To Sleep / I Never ‘Ask For It,’ 2016-2018
Documentary photos
Courtesy of the Artist and Action Sheroes
Photo Sebastian Bach
Guillermo Galindo
(Mexico, b. 1960, lives and works in Mexico and the United States)
Sirvientes y Escaleras / Servants and Ladders, 2015
Aluminum ladder with various border artifacts
132 x 24 x 10 inches
Courtesy of the Artist and Pace/MacGill Gallery
Photo Sebastian Bach