Kent Monkman

Apollo and Hyacinth

2012

Building on a series of exhibitions titled Panorama of the Anthropocene which examined the ecological impact of human activity through an array of paintings, digital prints and video...

Building on a series of exhibitions titled Panorama of the Anthropocene which examined the ecological impact of human activity through an array of paintings, digital prints and video...

In Acts 2:3 of the Bible, flaming tongues lap at the disciples, conferring upon them the ability to speak languages not their own. These fiery tongues have signified the power of speech, persuasion, and the ability to preach to the masses. Ingrid Bachmann’s tongues in Pinocchio’s Dilemma are glossy as if sugarcoated and boiled into hard candies—a crystallization process. They are the only of her works that people have tried to lick. Alternately seductive and repulsive, they wag mechanically at eye-level, emitting a small wind-up machine language of their own. The tongue gives the impression an attempt to tell, a revealing of secrets. On the opposing side of the room, a rod extends slowly from a hole in the wall, inching out, then back in. Pinocchio’s nose is an instantly recognizable stand-in for lies, liars, fakes. Pinocchio originated as the protagonist of a 19th-century children’s book by the Italian writer Carlo Collodi, and was most famously adapted by The Walt Disney Company. The pre-Disney Pinocchio is unruly, violent and mischievous; his story was originally intended to be a tragedy in which the marionette is hung from an oak tree branch by his enemies. Angry Work contains a latent violence—that which is found in childhood games, stories, myths, novels, and in the tools of the everyday. Two 14-foot-long knitting needles—domestic weaponry—lean as dead as stones, cool and silent, against the wall. These weighted objects commune with three bronze tongues, pre-vocalizations, embalmed. Bronze is a silent material. Two drawings invoke Cassandra, who was promised the gift of prophecy by Apollo. When Apollo appeared to her, she refused his sexual advances. In some iterations of the story, Apollo appeared as a wolf surrounded by mice and spat on her tongue. She awoke with a taste on her tongue. Maybe metallic, maybe red. She had been granted the gift of prophecy, with one condition: no one would believe her. This burdened us with one of the earliest models of hysteria—speaking in tongues, speaking marred truths. Bachmann maintains that Angry Work is not limited to women’s anger, or to personal anger. It’s about generalized anger. “The red world And corresponding red breezes.” [1] A cloud of anger, hints of red. An amorphous unknown. “The Airborne Toxic Event” [2] that encapsulates truth, lies, histories repeated, struggle, strife, shock, grappling and anger, anger, anger. I am told that The Angry Machine weighs 400 pounds and emits a mechanized hum. It will be fenced in, for the protection of both viewers and itself. It will not perform on demand, but at scheduled intervals, only occasionally. It has a projectile that is red. Red is the memory of a children’s game, trying to avoid hitting yourself, to avoid the smack of something against your skin. Red is interiority: the tongue, cheeks, throat and kisses. One can “see red” in a fit of rage. Red is blood, and red is romance — “roses being burned alive.” [3] [1] Anne Carson...

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Foil block print Edition 2 of 2 Born in Bristol England, in 1965, Damien Hirst grew up in Leeds and studied at Goldsmiths College, London. Most notable amongst the exhibitions he curated while at college was Freeze, in 1988, in which he exhibited his work and that of his contemporaries. The exhibition is widely believed to have been the starting point of the Young British Artist Movement, and a defining moment in kick-starting cutting edge British contemporary art. Hirst’s body of work confronts the scientific, philosophical and religious aspects of human existence and includes sculpture, painting and printmaking. He has exhibited widely and was awarded the Turner Prize in 1995 for The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. In 2004, Hirst collaborated with Sarah Lucas and Angus Fairhurst to exhibit recent works at Tate Britain, under the title In-a-Gadda-da-Vida. In 2006, works from the artist’s Murderme collection were exhibited at the Serpentine gallery, London: ‘In the darkest hour there may be light. ‘More recently, Hirst exhibited No Love Lost: Blue Paintings at The Wallace Collection, London, 2010; Cornucopia at Musée Océanographique de Monaco, 2010 and with Michael Joo...

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