Five Film and Video Exhibitions Offer an Alternative to Static Viewing Rooms
The coronavirus pandemic has left us with empty museums and galleries that are trying to keep us engaged with digital content by creating virtual spaces. Art fairs have adapted to the digital space with Frieze and Art Basel taking place completely online. It’s difficult not to get weary of looking at static images on my laptop and iPhone screen, so during the pandemic I’m finding more time to watch artists’ films and videos. In the time of online viewing rooms, film and video are the media that are native to our screens. There is no flattening or distortion to make the viewer long for the days when brushstrokes, surface texture and depth could easily be taken in with the naked eye. We are addicted to screens and we are attracted to the moving image.
Still from Benjamin Verhoeven, 50.000 SCANS – ACT III & VI, 2018, stop-motion video of scans, 7:00 min. Image courtesy of the artist and Catinca Tabacaru Gallery.
Catinca Tabacaru’s site is winning the pandemic with cutting-edge design and a program of screen-based art that can be enjoyed fully from isolation. LIVE NOW | Hope There's Someone (To Touch) features the work of artists Clemens von Wedemeyer, Benjamin Verhoeven, Ruth Patir, Hans Op de Beeck, Rachel Monosov, and Maria Lucia Cruz Correia. The exhibition was curated by Rachel Monosov & Catinca Tabacaru and runs through June 28.
Still from Devin Troy Strother, Watermelon in Three Acts, 2019, video, 10:58 min. Image courtesy of the artist and Martos Gallery.
Martos Gallery is posting a new film every Friday for their ongoing series, “Film Fridays”. The films are only available from Friday at noon through 6pm Monday. Participating artists include Jessica Vaughn, Kandis Williams, Kathleen White, and Devin Troy Strother, among others. A suggested contribution of $5 goes directly to the artists.
not cancelled is a series of week-long digital art event presenting work from galleries from around the world. Currently, works from Italy and Brazil are being featured on the site, including Jacopo Benassi’s Brutal film (2020) shown above. From May 22 to May 30, galleries from the southern U.S. were on view, including work by video artist Kalup Linzy.
Still from Kalup Linzy, Hot Mess from Sweetberry Sonnet, 2008, video, 3:59 min. From FIVE., curated by Nina Chanel Abney, at We Buy Gold. Image courtesy of the artist and gallery.
Linzy currently has a piece in another show of video art, FIVE. at We Buy Gold, curated by Nina Chanel Abney. Other participating artists include Nick Cave, Jacolby Satterwhite, and Sondra Perry. The show is online through June 30, and recently received a glowing and insightful review in 4Columns by Aruna D’Souza.
Still from Arthur Jafa, LOVE IS THE MESSAGE, THE MESSAGE IS DEATH, 2016, video, 7:30 min. Still captured from the Hirshhorn’s stream.
Arthur Jafa’s critically lauded 2016 work Love is the Message, The Message is Death, previously only shown in darkened rooms at galleries and museums, is being streamed online this weekend for the first time. Thirteen international institutions, including the Hirshhorn, are making the video available for viewing online through 2PM EDT on Sunday, June 28.
