Apichatpong Weerasethakul: The Serenity of Madness
A leading figure in contemporary film and art, Apichatpong Weerasethakul has developed a singular realist-surrealist style in which he portrays the everyday alongside supernatural elements suggesting a distortion between fact and folklore, the subconscious and the exposed, and various disparities of power. His work reveals stories often excluded in history in and out of Thailand: voices of the poor and the ill, marginalized beings, and those silenced and censored for personal and political reasons.
Curated by Gridthiya Gaweewong, this new solo exhibition uniquely presents a collection of rarely-seen experimental short films and video installations by Weerasethakul, alongside his photography, paintings, sketches, and archival material that explore threads of socio-political commentary. His passionate positions regarding class, labor, sexuality, science and spirituality have informed his practice from early in his career to the present.
Publication
In conjunction with the exhibition, ICI will publish The Apichatpong Weerasethakul Sourcebook. The Sourcebook series is dedicated to contemporary artists’ personal perspectives on social, political, and cultural issues. Each book, edited by a single artist, includes a collection of primary research materials and influences, such as rare archival documents, artwork studies, and excerpts of landmark publications, selected from the artist’s own archive and annotated with personal commentary.
Exhibition debut
MIA IAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai, Thailand
July 3–September 10, 2016
Touring dates
2016–19
The Ocean After Nature
For centuries, the ocean has prompted awe, figuring as a vast unknown space loaded with notions of the sublime and the exotic. In the past 15 years however, global technological and economic shifts have triggered new concerns and understandings of the ocean. As we consider the future of our planet, today’s oceans reveal more about the consequences of human actions than ever before. The ocean and humanity, no longer thought of as separate, exist in a relationship of mutual and potentially destructive influence.
The Ocean After Nature considers the ocean as a site reflecting the ecological, cultural, political, and economic realities of a globalized world through the work of 20 artists and collectives. Curated by Alaina Claire Feldman, the exhibition proposes that seascapes do not only reflect power but can be instruments of power themselves. The artists in the exhibition explore new ways of representing the seascape as a means to identify and critique the various interrelated and chaotic systems of power, such as land-sea divides, the circulation of people and goods, and the vulnerabilities of our ecosystems. Invoking personal themes of identity and migration, alongside more universal concerns related to tourism, trade, and the exploitation of natural resources, the artists in The Ocean After Nature respond to the intertwined factors that define a new understanding of the ocean.
Artists
Ursula Biemann, CAMP, Yonatan Cohen and Rafi Segal, Mati Diop, Drexciya, Peter Fend, Manuel Gnam, Renée Green, Peter Hutton, Hyung S. Kim, An-My Lê, Manny Montelibano, Deimantas Narkevičius, The Otolith Group, Ulrike Ottinger, Maria D. Rapicavoli, Carissa Rodriguez, Allan Sekula and Nöel Burch, Supersudaca, UNITED BROTHERS
Publication
Accompanying catalogue edited by Alaina Claire Feldman, published by ICI, designed by Geoff Kaplan / General Working Group. Contributors include: Negar Azimi, Ursula Biemann, María del Carmen Carrión, Övül Durmuşoğlu, Kodwo Eshun, Patrick D. Flores, Ed Halter, May Joseph, Lucy Lippard, Andrey Misiano, Allan Sekula and Noël Burch, Lanka Tattersall, Sarah Wang, among others.
Exhibition debut
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), San Francisco
June 17–August 28, 2016
Touring dates
2016–19
About Independent Curators International
Independent Curators International (ICI) produces exhibitions, events, publications, research and training opportunities for curators and diverse audiences around the world. Established in 1975 and headquartered in New York, ICI is a hub that connects emerging and established curators, artists, and art spaces, forging international networks and generating new forms of collaborations. ICI provides access to the people and practices that are key to current developments in the field, inspiring fresh ways of seeing and contextualizing contemporary art.
ICI’s Exhibitions and Publications programs are made possible, in part, by grants from the Evelyn Toll Family Foundation, the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, and with the generous support of ICI’s Board of Trustees and the members of the International Forum.
Exhibitions booking contact
Virgil B/G Taylor: virgil [at] curatorsintl.org
Press contact
Bessie Zhu: bessie [at] curatorsintl.org
