September 28, 2012–January 6, 2013
Montclair Art Museum
3 South Mountain Ave.
Montclair, NJ 07042
T 973 746 5555
This fall season, the Montclair Art Museum (MAM) proudly presents Saya Woolfalk: The Empathics, the second exhibition in MAM’s New Directions series, which showcases emerging and mid-career contemporary artists. It will feature new work by the Brooklyn-based multimedia artist and will mark her first solo museum exhibition. On view September 28, 2012–January 6, 2013, the exhibition is organized by Alexandra Schwartz, MAM’s curator of contemporary art and founder of the New Directions series, with Kimberly Fisher, curatorial assistant.
Blending fantasy, humor, and play, Woolfalk’s art draws on anthropology, mythology, and fashion to present a fantastical world that encourages us to consider our most pressing societal issues, particularly concerning cultural difference, in a new light. The exhibition at MAM spotlights her current, science fiction-inspired project, “The Empathics.” The titular Empathics are a fictional group of women who, the artist imagines, blend racial and ethnic identities as they metamorphose, taking on characteristics of both humans and plants. The Empathics’ physical transformation is a parable for societal change; it expresses the hope that, in our increasingly global society, cultures will develop better understanding, or empathy, for one another.
The Empathics’ story unfolds in the form of a fictitious ethnographic display—yet with kaleidoscopic colors, patterns, and textures unique to Woolfalk’s extraordinary vision. The exhibition is “lent” by the Institute of Empathy, a fictional museum and research center run by and dedicated to the study of the Empathics, and is complete with dioramas, artifacts, and even wall labels written by the Institute. Together, these elements present an immersive environment that addresses the distinctive imagery, symbolism, and folklore of this unique, cross-species culture.
Woolfalk’s colorful installation includes human-scale, fabric-based sculptures, some of which double as costumes in her innovative performances; intricate paintings; thought-provoking videos; and interactive web technologies. Several of the installations at MAM incorporate handmade paper that Woolfalk created during her 2011–2012 Workspace Program residency at Dieu Donné Papermill. In all her works, Woolfalk utilizes rainbow hues and exuberant patterns and synthesizes references to diverse sources such as Native American artifacts, Japanese kimono fabrics, West African textiles and regalia, Brazilian Carnival costumes, Buddhist tanka paintings, and European illuminated manuscripts. The exhibition at MAM will feature new, specially commissioned work, including sculptures inspired by the Museum’s collection of Native American art, videos for the permanent outdoor monitors on its grounds, and a performance developed and performed by the artist in collaboration with students from Montclair State University’s Department of Theater and Dance.
Saya Woolfalk has exhibited at MoMA PS1; Deitch Projects; Contemporary Art Museum, Houston; Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Studio Museum in Harlem; the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville; the Newark Museum; Momenta Art; and Performa 09; and has been written about in Sculpture Magazine and on Art21′s blog. With funding from the NEA, her solo exhibition, The Institute of Empathy, ran at Real Art Ways from Fall 2010 to Spring 2011. New Directions/Saya Woolfalk: The Empathics, at the Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ, in Fall 2012, is her first solo museum exhibition.
New Directions is an annual contemporary art exhibition series, launched in 2011 to inaugurate MAM’s new contemporary art program. It spotlights emerging to mid-career artists working in all media.
Saya Woolfalk: The Empathics is made possible with generous Exhibition Angel support from the Vance Wall Foundation, Rose and John Cali, Holly English and Fred Smagorinsky, Tracy Higgins and James Leitner, Ann and Mel Schaffer, and Margo and Frank Walter.
All Museum programs are made possible, in part, by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Vance Wall Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and Museum members.
