exhibition guide - contemporary art gallery · especially in vancouver, which sits upon the unceded...
TRANSCRIPT
Mar
yam
Jaf
riA
utom
atic
Neg
ativ
e Th
ough
t
Roland
e Souliere
Frequent Stopping IV
and V
Exhibition Guide
Maryam
JafriA
utomatic N
egative Thoug
htJuly 5 – S
eptem
ber 22, 2019
B.C
. Binning
and A
lvin Balkind
Galleries
In my p
ractice, I would
say form and
content are not so easy to sep
arate.- M
aryam Jafri
Autom
atic Negative Thought is the first m
ajor solo exhibition in C
anada of works by C
openhagen and New
York based artist M
aryam Jafri. W
orking across a breadth of media including
video, sculpture, performance and photography, her practice
draws from
diverse traditions of literature, theatre, pop and conceptual art. C
entral to Jafri’s concern is a questioning of the cultural and visual representations of history, politics and econom
ics, often investigating topics such as food production and consum
ption, the coded rituals of nation-states, cultural m
emory and copyright law
, as well as the im
pacts of graphic design, branding and display.
Across both gallery spaces, A
utomatic N
egative Thought focuses on our contem
porary culture’s fixation on the individual, be it through “w
ellness” and self-care or the ow
nership of images, suggesting the w
ays in which these
trends are often accessed through consumerism
and m
aterialism, and entangled w
ith underlying conditions of econom
ic instability. Bringing together both found and
original material, Jafri uses such strategies of appropriation to
expose economic, political and social system
s that sustain our post-industrial society.
Maryam
Jafri, Where W
e’re At, 2017
Courtesy the artist and Laveronica arte contem
poranea, Modica
Rol
and
e S
oulie
reFr
eque
nt S
top
pin
g IV
and
VA
pri
l 5 –
Sep
tem
ber
22,
201
9C
AG
Faç
ade
and
off
-sit
e at
Ya
leto
wn-
Rou
ndho
use
Sta
tion
The
mul
ti-m
edia
pra
ctic
e of
Aus
tral
ia-b
ased
Ani
shin
aabe
art
ist
Rol
ande
Sou
liere
ent
angl
es th
e vi
sual
lang
uage
of h
ard-
edge
d ge
omet
ric a
bstr
actio
n w
ith th
at o
f con
tem
pora
ry tr
affic
sig
nage
to
con
side
r how
col
onia
l inf
rast
ruct
ures
mar
k bo
th s
pace
s an
d th
e pe
ople
inha
bitin
g th
em. H
er s
olo
exhi
bitio
n, F
requ
ent
Sto
ppin
g IV
and
V, p
rese
nts
two
new
larg
e-sc
ale,
site
-spe
cific
w
orks
acr
oss
the
stre
et le
vel f
açad
e of
the
Con
tem
pora
ry A
rt
Gal
lery
and
off-
site
at t
he n
earb
y Ya
leto
wn-
Rou
ndho
use
Sta
tion.
Th
ese
inst
alla
tions
dra
w fr
om S
oulie
re’s
ong
oing
bod
y of
wor
k th
at c
reat
es in
terv
entio
ns u
sing
cau
tion
tape
and
str
eet b
arrie
r pa
ttern
s in
imm
ersi
ve in
stal
latio
ns.
Sou
liere
has
a lo
ng h
isto
ry o
f wor
king
with
the
mat
eria
ls a
nd
met
apho
rs o
f the
road
. She
str
ips
thes
e se
emin
gly
univ
ersa
l sy
mbo
ls fr
om th
eir u
sual
con
text
s an
d se
para
tes
them
from
th
eir r
ole
as w
ayfin
ding
aid
s to
sug
gest
the
exte
nt to
whi
ch
auth
oriti
es d
icta
te o
ur m
ovem
ents
on
the
land
. The
Fre
quen
t S
topp
ing
serie
s po
ints
to th
e w
ays
in w
hich
our
per
cept
ion
of b
ound
arie
s sh
ift a
ccor
ding
to p
ersp
ectiv
e an
d to
the
fact
that
so
man
y In
dige
nous
land
cla
ims—
desp
ite b
eing
fir
st p
ress
ed d
ecad
es o
r eve
n ce
ntur
ies
ago—
have
yet
to
be re
solv
ed. E
spec
ially
in V
anco
uver
, whi
ch s
its u
pon
the
unce
ded
ance
stra
l ter
ritor
ies
of th
e M
usqu
eam
, Squ
amis
h an
d Ts
leil-
Wau
tuth
Nat
ions
, Sou
liere
’s u
ltra-
visi
ble,
hig
hly
publ
ic in
terv
entio
ns m
ark
spac
e in
a g
estu
re th
at s
peak
s of
pe
rman
ent v
isib
ility
and
recl
amat
ion.
The
y de
linea
te li
nes
that
ca
nnot
be
draw
n an
d re
draw
n.
Rol
ande
Sou
liere
, Fre
quen
t Sto
ppin
g IV
(det
ail),
201
9P
hoto
grap
hy b
y S
ITE
Pho
togr
aphy
Exhib
ition G
uide
1
a
b
c
d
e
f
Maryam Jafri
Wellness-Postindustrial Complex
ANT (Automatic Negative Thought), 2017Inkjet on paper, graphite, pill, cupping glass12 x 5 x 9 inches
Self-care, 2017Metal toilet paper holder, yoga mat7.8 x 5 x 9 inches
Anxiety, 2017Wood, silicone feet, acupuncture needles, test tubes, paper12.5 x 6.6 x 40 inches
Boy & Boy Continued, 2017Inkjet on paper6 x 9 and 7 x 5 inches
Depression, 2017Wood, silicone feet, acupuncture needles, glass cupping equipment, photograph, paper, egg carton12 x 5 x 9 inches
Schadenfreude, 2017Plywood, silicone, acupuncture needle, yoga mat32 x 4 x 18 inches
Wellness-Postindustrial Complex is a series of sculptures and photographic works focused on the growing popularity of Eastern practices of self-care such as yoga, acupuncture and meditation. Tools used in acupuncture, cupping and yoga are juxtaposed with mass-produced fetish objects, photographic works, and objects of Western biomedicine including test tubes and pills.
2 Where We’re At, 2017Wood, books, vinyl lettering99.2 x 184 x 3 inches
Where We’re At is both a sculpture and solvable crossword puzzle. The dead squares recalling a typical crossword are replaced by physical books. The impetus for the piece came from a list of six books circulated by the New York Times after the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential elections, which claimed to illuminate historical and economic factors behind the results. Jafri includes two of those books but adds numerous others she considers relevant to our contemporary political moment.
A printed take-away is available in the Resource Room to visitors who wish to solve the puzzle at home, with answers available upon request.
3 American Buddhist, 2016Wood, framed text, monitor, objectsDimensions variable
American Buddhist investigates the use of meditation as a new US military training strategy. Mass-produced stuffed Buddha toys and garlands of artificial flowers surround a monitor playing a public domain video featuring the first Buddhist chaplain in the US Army leading a meditation session for active troops in Iraq.
B.C. Binning Gallery Alvin Balkind Gallery
Rolande Souliere
Frequent Stopping IV, 2019Adhesive vinylOff-site at Yaletown-Roundhouse Station
Frequent Stopping V, 2019Caution and barrier tapeCAG Façade
Mariam Jafri vs. Maryam Jafri2019Single channel video projection09:10Co-commissioned by CAG and TAXISPALAIS Kunsthalle Tirol, Innsbruck
Mariam Jafri vs. Maryam Jafri is a single-channel video investigating an exhibition photograph taken of the artist’s Anxiety sculpture from Wellness-Postindustrial Complex at the 2017 Frieze London art fair. The photograph was taken without the artist’s knowledge or permission yet commercially exploited by Getty Images as a stock image.
All works courtesy the artist and Laveronica arte contemporanea, Modica
4
4
1a
1d
1b1c
1d
3
2
1e
1f