Harvestworks Digital Media Art Center presents visual artist, Brendan Fernandes, to show his multi-channel moving image work “(buli)” along with his recent video work, “Still move”. “(buli)” explores barriers and codes that language creates through the lens of ethnicity, using a Dadaist style of repetition and nonsensicality . “Still move” – Taking inspiration from the notion of stillness these abstract videos capturing the body in motion create a contemplative and ephemeral space.
[Mar 4 – 9] Brendan Fernandes: “(buli)” / “Still move”
Brendan Fernandes
Opening reception: Saturday March 7 2015, 4 – 6 pm
Open To The Public: Mar 4 to 9, noon to 5pm
Location:
Harvestworks 596 Broadway, #602 | New York, NY 10012
Phone: 212-431-1130
Subway: F/M/D/B Broadway/Lafayette, R Prince, 6 Bleecker
SoHo Saturday is a day of exhibition viewing and special programs by the not-for-profit visual arts institutions in SoHo. As part of SoHo Saturday, Harvestworks Digital Media Art Center presents visual artist, Brendan Fernandes, to show his multi-channel moving image work “(buli)” along with his recent video work, “Still move”.
“(buli)” explores barriers and codes that language creates through the lens of ethnicity, using a Dadaist style of repetition and nonsensicality while referencing wall labels and provenance reports of African objects in museum collections. A text poem is inscribed in vinyl on the gallery walls in pulsing Morse patterns as a sound piece mixing indiscernible words and a harpsichord plays. This minimalist exhibition questions colonial histories through the removal and loss of cultural goods.
“Still move” – Taking inspiration from the notion of stillness these abstract videos capturing the body in motion create a contemplative and ephemeral space. Stillness alludes to a static and motionless space. In these works the body is in motion, subtly rolling body parts over a nude rubber ball against a wall the body extends itself inside and outside the frame of the camera. At times only an abstracted body shape is seen but at other times the ball pressed against the body is reviled. The camera is still, but the gestures and motions seem to be generated by it. The images in the video are playful and perverse but oscillate between looking like lunar landscapes. The works aim to create a space of contemplative and desire.
BRENDAN FERNANDES is a Canadian artist of Kenyan and Indian descent. He completed the Independent Study Program of the Whitney Museum of American Art (2007) and earned his MFA (2005) from The University of Western Ontario and his BFA (2002) from York University in Canada.
He has exhibited nationally and internationally including exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Art and Design New York, Art in General, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, The National Gallery of Canada, The Art Gallery of Hamilton, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Mass MoCA, The Andy Warhol Museum, the Art Gallery of York University, Deutsche Guggenheim, The Bergen Kunsthall , Manif d’Art: The Quebec City Biennial, The Third Guangzhou Triennial and the Western New York Biennial through The Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
Fernandes has participated in numerous residency programs including The Canada Council for the Arts International Residency in Trinidad and Tobago (2006), The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Work Space (2008) and Swing Space (2009) programs, and invitations to the Gyeonggi Creation Center at the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Korea (2009) and ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany (2011). He was a finalist for the Sobey Art Award Canada’s pre-eminent award for contemporary art. (2010), and was on the longlist for the 2013 prize.
He recently debut a new performance at the Sculpture Center, Long Island City, NY and participated in Stage It! (Part 3) – SCRIPTED at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Upcoming shows are scheduled for the Brooklyn Museum and Seattle Art Museum. He is a 2014 recipient of a Robert Rauschenberg Residency Fellowship.
Check here his installation for the Armory Art Week.
Exhibition Space provided by Newmark Family Properties.
This event is organized with the Soho Arts Network, a group of non-profit arts organizations based in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood announced today the launch of the SoHo Arts Network—a working network of not-for-profit art spaces dedicated to celebrating the rich history of SoHo’s unique creative community and to advancing the neighborhood’s continued cultural contributions to the lives of both residents and visitors. Check the website here.
Press contact Carol Parkinson
Phone: 212-431-1130 x 120 (e) carolp@harvestworks.org
