Fluid Matters, Grounded Bodies: Decolonizing Ecological Encounters
Gallery 360, Northeastern University, Boston, MA • camd.northeastern.edu/cfa/center-for-the-arts-exhibitions/ • Through April 6, 2024
Gallery 360, nestled into Northeastern University’s campus, presents this stand-out exhibition featuring artists Farah Al Qasimi, Beatriz Cortez, micha cárdenas, Tessa Grundon, Allison Janae Hamilton, Joiri Minaya, Ada M. Patterson, Wendy Red Star, Himali Singh Soin, Annie Sprinkle, and Beth Stephens. Originally presented at NYU’s Gallatin Galleries in July 2022, Northeastern’s team worked with the curators to re-envision the exhibition for Northeastern and Boston. The show spans two venues, Gallery 360 and Northeastern Crossing, a public-facing community-oriented initiative providing a space for students and residents. Aimed at deconstructing hierarchical and colonial narratives around climate change, this exhibition positions itself as a place for self-discovery and reflection on the current climate crisis.
Upon entering the corridor-like gallery sided by one long glass wall offering a view to passersby, we encounter Wendy Red Star’s collages from the series A Float for the Future (2021). Brightly colored fabric and images reimagine the Crow Fair Parade with an eye toward future potential. Arranged into four sections, the exhibition begins here with Counter-Histories and Mythologies of Place, then moves through Bodily Presence and Absence, Kinship as Remediation, and Beyond the Coloniality of Place.
One highlight is Farah Al Qasimi’s Um Al Naar (Mother of Fire). A 42-minute and 7-second video in a documentary-style reality TV format presenting a Jinn from Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. Through a combination of found footage and interviews in this strange and captivating video Al Qasimi explores local history, colonial history, myth, and issues of identity.
Throughout the exhibition, time becomes layered and compressed. Works like micha cárdenas’s Sin Sol/No Sun (2018) place the player in an augmented reality video game set in the year 2068, and Joiri Minaya’s collages combine historical and contemporary images of Dominican and Caribbean women and landscapes illuminating the legacy of colonialism.
In addition to community engagement spearheaded by Northeastern Crossing, an exhibition catalog will be available in early 2024. To be located in the gallery, the catalog will include three interviews with artists Cortez, Patterson, and Soin, providing visitors with an expanded view into the artworks and artist’s practices. This exhibition is an exceptional reason to visit and explore Northeastern’s campus.
— Abbi Kenny