Queens Museum of Art New York City Building

EXHIBITIONS:QUEENS MUSEUM PRESENTED A NUMBER OF SUCCESSFUL EXHIBITIONS AND ACCOMPANYING PUBLIC PROGRAMS THAT ENGAGED DIVERSE AUDIENCES BOTH ON-SITE AT THE MUSEUM AND THROUGHOUT NEW YORK CITY THROUGH SATELLITE EXHIBITIONS AND PROGRAMS.MUNDOS ALTERNOS: ART AND SCIENCE FICTION IN LATIN AMERICA: MUNDOS ALTERNOS OFFERED A GROUNDBREAKING ACCOUNT OF THE INTERSECTIONS AMONG SCIENCE FICTION, TECHNO-CULTURE, AND THE VISUAL ARTS AND BROUGHT TOGETHER CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS FROM ACROSS THE AMERICAS WHO HAVE TAPPED INTO SCIENCE FICTION'S CAPACITY TO IMAGINE NEW REALITIES.MUNDOS ALTERNOS WAS THE FIRST CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION TO FEATURE WORKS BY ARTISTS OF SPANISH-SPEAKING CULTURES EXPLORING SCIENCE-FICTION AS AN EFFECTIVE AND MEANINGFUL VEHICLE TO ENVISION ALTERNATIVE POSSIBILITIES OF THE WORLD. ORIGINALLY PRESENTED AS PART OF PACIFIC STANDARD TIME: LA/LA IN RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, MUNDOS ALTERNOS WAS ADAPTED FOR QM WHERE IT WAS RESITUATED AND RECONTEXTUALIZED, PROVIDING ANOTHER LENS TO EXAMINE CONTENT THAT REIMAGINES OUR SOCIETY'S PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. THIS EXPANSIVE SHOW DISPLAYED WORKS BY ABOUT 30 IMMIGRANT AND NATIVE CHICANO/A, LATINO/A, AND LATIN AMERICAN ARTISTS AND COLLECTIVES HAILING FROM ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, CHILE, CUBA, EL SALVADOR, MEXICO, CALIFORNIA, FLORIDA, NEW MEXICO, NEW YORK, TEXAS, AND PUERTO RICO.ALEXANDRIA SMITH: MONUMENTS TO AN EFFIGY: ALEXANDRIA SMITH'S MONUMENTS TO AN EFFIGY TAKES THE HISTORIES OF THE OLDE TOWNE OF FLUSHING BURIAL GROUND AND THE MACEDONIA A.M.E. CHURCH IN FLUSHING, QUEENS AS POINTS OF DEPARTURE FOR AN EXHIBITION THAT EVOKES AN ALTAR OR COMMEMORATIVE SPACE. IN HER WORK, SMITH EXPLORES NARRATIVE, MEMORY, AND MYTH THROUGH THE LENS OF THE BLACK FEMALE FORM AND PSYCHE. FOR THIS EXHIBITION, THE ARTIST RESPONDS TO THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO WERE BURIED AT THE SITE. OF THE FOUR MARKED GRAVESTONES DISCOVERED FROM THE BURIAL GROUND, ONLY MALE MEMBERS OF THE BUNN AND CURRY FAMILIES ARE LISTED. SMITH'S WORK HONORS THE UNNAMED WOMEN LAID TO REST AT THE OLDE TOWNE OF FLUSHING BURIAL GROUND AND THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD NETWORK IN FLUSHING, WHICH INCLUDED THE MACEDONIA A.M.E. CHURCH.PIA CAMIL: FADE INTO BLACK: SIT, CHILL, LOOK, TAKE, ROLL, PLAY, LISTEN, GIVE, TAKE, DANCE, SHARE : PIA CAMIL'S FADE INTO BLACK: SIT, CHILL, LOOK, TAKE, ROLL, PLAY, LISTEN, GIVE, TAKE, DANCE, SHARE. CAMIL'S (B. 1980, MEXICO CITY) WORK USES TEXTILE, SCULPTURE, AND PERFORMANCE TO CREATE ENVIRONMENTS WHICH CONFRONT THE POLITICS OF GLOBAL CONSUMERISM THROUGH THE LANGUAGE OF THEATER AND RETAIL. INSPIRED BY THE OPEN-AIR MARKETS OF LATIN AMERICA, PARTICULARLY IZTAPALAPA IN MEXICO CITY, THE ARTIST COMMENTS ON A CYCLE IN WHICH SHIRTS DESIGNED IN THE U.S. ARE MANUFACTURED IN LATIN AMERICA OR SOUTHEAST ASIA, WORN AND DISCARDED IN THE UNITED STATES, AND THEN SENT BACK TO LATIN AMERICA TO BE SOLD AGAIN IN SECOND-HAND MARKETS, WHERE THEIR LOGOS ADVOCATE FOR CAUSES FAR REMOVED FROM LOCAL CULTURE. CAMIL ENGAGES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE GLOBAL NORTH AND SOUTH BY RE-IMPORTING THESE T-SHIRTS ONCE AGAIN INTO THE UNITED STATES AS ART SO THAT THEY MAY, AS THE ARTIST SAYS, "HAUNT" THEIR PLACES OF ORIGIN.THE QM PROJECT INCLUDED FADE INTO BLACK (2018), A 341-FOOT-LONG CURTAIN OF FOUND T-SHIRTS FIRST COMMISSIONED BY SCAD MUSEUM OF ART IN SAVANNAH, GEORGIA. AT QM, THE PIECE WRAPPED AROUND THE MUSEUM'S CENTRAL ATRIUM IN A NEARLY 360 DEGREE VIEWING EXPERIENCE THAT TRANSFORMED THE SPACE INTO A PLACE OF REPOSE FOR MUSEUM VISITORS. THEATRIUM FLOOR WAS COVERED WITH A PINK CARPET, AND IN A CLASSIC PAIRING, THE JEANS OF BLUEJEANEANDO (2019) JOINED THE T-SHIRTS UNDER THE MUSEUM'S SKYLIGHT FOR VISITORS TO MANIPULATE, MOVE, AND REST ON. THESE TEXTILE SCULPTURES, MADE FROM RECYCLED JEANS ALSO SOURCED FROM OPEN-AIR MARKETS IN MEXICO CITY, INVITED VISITORS TO LOUNGE COMFORTABLY INTHE MUSEUM, AND TO ENGAGE DIRECTLY WITH THE WORK AND EACH OTHER.NICOLAS MOUFARREGE: RECOGNIZE MY SIGN: NICOLAS MOUFARREGE (1947-1985) WAS AN ARTIST AND WRITER BORN TO LEBANESE PARENTS IN ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT AND RAISED IN BEIRUT. DURING A CAREER THAT LASTED JUST OVER A DECADE, HE CREATED AN ORIGINAL AND IDIOSYNCRATIC BODY OF EMBROIDERED PAINTINGS MADE IN BEIRUT; PARIS, FRANCE; AND NEW YORK CITY.RECOGNIZE MY SIGNTHE ARTIST'S FIRST SOLO MUSEUM EXHIBITIONTRACED THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIS WORK FROM THE LAP-SCALED PORTRAIT-TAPESTRIES HE BEGAN MAKING IN THE EARLY 1970S TO THE FINAL WORKS HE CREATED WHILE LIVING IN NEW YORK BETWEEN 1980 AND 1985. THIS EXHIBITION OFFERED AN OPPORTUNITY TO REDISCOVER THE MATERIALLY AND CONCEPTUALLYCOMPELLING WORK OF A SINGULAR CREATIVE FORCE WHOSE OUTPUT IS REMARKABLY RELEVANT AND RESONANT TODAY. NICOLAS MOUFARREGE: RECOGNIZE MY SIGN WAS ORGANIZED BY CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM HOUSTON CURATOR DEAN DADERKO AND COORDINATED AT THE QUEENS MUSEUM BY CURATOR LARISSA HARRIS. DURING THE EXHIBITION'S RUN FROM OCTOBER 6, 2019 TO FEBRUARY 16, 2020, IT WAS VISITED BY OVER 21,000 PEOPLE, INCLUDING 5,000 LOCAL K-12 STUDENTS.THE EXPANDED QM PRESENTATION OF RECOGNIZE MY SIGN INCLUDED ADDITIONAL MATERIALS THAT FOCUSED ON MOUFARREGE'S YEARS IN NEW YORK CITY, WHERE MANY OF HIS EXQUISITE EMBROIDERED PAINTINGS WERE CREATED. TWO PAINTINGS FROM RENOWNED NEW YORK COLLECTIONS WERE ADDED, AS WELL AS A SELECTION OF EPHEMERA FROM THE ARTIST'S ARCHIVE DOCUMENTING HIS ROLE AS A CRITIC AND CURATOR CENTRAL TO THE FOUNDATION OF THE EAST VILLAGE ART SCENE. THIS SECTION INCLUDED OPENING INVITATIONS TO TWO GROUP EXHIBITIONS - INTOXICATION (1983) AND ECSTASY (1984) - THAT MOUFARREGE ORGANIZED FOR MONIQUE KNOWLTON GALLERY, A GUEST BOOK FROM MOUFARREGE'S EXHIBITION AT FUN GALLERY WITH WELLWISHES FROM CARLO MCCORMICK AND A TOUCHING DRAWING BY MARTIN WONG, AND A CATALOGUE FROM MOUFARREGE'S POSTHUMOUS MEMORIAL EXHIBITION AT P.S.1'S CLOCKTOWER GALLERY IN 1987. AS PART OF THE EXHIBITION AND AVAILABLE DIGITALLY, QM PRODUCED RECOGNIZING THE PRESENT: A DOULA'S GUIDE TO HIV IN THE 21ST CENTURY, A ZINE CREATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DOULA COLLECTIVE WHAT WOULD AN HIV DOULA DO? THE GUIDE PROVIDED EDUCATIONALMATERIAL AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING, UP-TO-DATE QUEENS-BASED INFORMATION TO HELP PEOPLE RECOGNIZE AND NAVIGATE HIV IN THE PRESENT.QM ALSO ORGANIZED A SERIES OF PUBLIC AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS TO ACCOMPANY THE EXHIBITION. IN PARTNERSHIP VISUAL AIDS, AN ORGANIZATION THAT WORKS TO SUPPORT HIV+ ARTISTS AND PRESERVES THE LEGACY OF THOSE LOST TO THE AIDS EPIDEMIC, QM ORGANIZED A SERIES OF GALLERY TALKS WITH CURATORS, SCHOLARS, AND FRIENDS OF THE ARTIST. THE FIRST TALK WAS HELD ON OCTOBER 27, 2019, AND FEATURED CURATOR YASMIN RAMIREZ AND ARTISTS ELAINE REICHEK AND JAMES ROMBERGER IN CONVERSATION. THE IN-GALLERY TALK OFFERED AN INTIMATE LOOK INTO MOUFARREGE'S WORK AND LIFE. SPEAKERS REFLECTED ON THEIR FRIENDSHIP WITH MOUFARREGE, THE IMPACT OF THE AIDS EPIDEMIC ON HIS ART AND OTHERS', AND THE RESONANCE OF HIS WORK TODAY.CLOSING OUT THE EXHIBITION, BIDOUN, A NONPROFIT DEVOTED TO THE ARTS AND CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND ITS DIASPORAS, PARTNERED WITH QM TO PRESENT A DAY OF TALKS AND SCREENINGS. CONTRIBUTORS SPOKE ABOUT THE DISTINCT COSMOPOLITAN ENCLAVES IN WHICH MOUFARREGE LIVED, INCLUDING ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT IN THE 1950S, AND THOSE WHERE HE WORKED: PARIS AND BEIRUT IN THE 1960S AND 1970S, AND NEW YORK IN THE EARLY 1980S. THESE PRESENTATIONS OFFERED A LENS THROUGH WHICH TO VIEW MOUFARREGE'S EMBLEMATIC ENGAGEMENTS WITH PAINTING AND EMBROIDERY, GRAFFITI AND COLLAGE, POP ART, AND THEESOTERIC. THE AFTERNOON BEGAN WITH A TALK BY ARTIST NICK MAUSS AND INCLUDED CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN NEGAR AZIMI, ROBYN CRESWELL, KAELEN WILSON-GOLDIE, AND HALA HALIM ON MOUFARREGE'S TIME IN ALEXANDRIA AND BEIRUT. THE AFTERNOON CONCLUDED WITH CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN MOUFARREGE'S GOOD FRIENDS BELLA MEYER AND MICHAEL VAZQUEZABOUT HIS LIFE IN PARIS AND ALANNA HEISS, CARLO MCCORMICK, AND SUR RODNEY IN CONVERSATION WITH CURATOR DEAN DADERKO ABOUT HIS FINAL YEARS IN NEW YORK CITY.AMERICAN ARTIST: MY BLUE WINDOW: AMERICAN ARTIST'S PRACTICE MAKES USE OF VIDEO, INSTALLATION, NEW MEDIA, AND WRITING TO REVEAL HISTORICAL DYNAMICS EMBEDDED WITHIN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY. THEIR LEGAL NAME CHANGE SERVES AS THE BASIS OF AN AMBIVALENT PRACTICEONE OF DECLARATION: BY INSISTING ON THE VISIBILITY OF BLACKNESS ASDESCRIPTIVE OF AN AMERICAN ARTIST, AND ERASURE: ANONYMITY IN VIRTUAL SPACES WHERE "AMERICAN ARTIST" IS AN ANONYMOUS NAME, UNABLE TO BE GOOGLED OR VALIDATED BY A COMPUTER AS A PERSON'S NAME.