Poster for the Visual Resistance (image courtesy Quito Ziegler)
So you’re an artist and you want to use your skills to resist Donald Trump and the Republican agenda — the Visual Resistance (TVR) may be for you. Organized by WRRQ, a collective of queer artists and activists, this Wednesday night community action forum offers an open invitation to anyone looking to fight oppression in creative ways. Conversations are set to take place on myriad topics, including the creation of hate-free zones, radical education, institutional resistance, and digital security; those planning to attend can RSVP via a Google form and let the organizers know which discussions they want to join. The night will be capped off by “an informal social hour” and a performance by artist Chris Berntsen that combines a personal queer archive from the 1970s with the artist’s own contemporary queer imagery.
WRRQ identifies itself as “an intergenerational community of artists and activists united in queerness who wrrq to transform our culture.” This event at Aperture is part of a program organized by For Freedoms, the super PAC created by artists Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman during the 2016 US presidential election. For Freedoms’ two-week stint at Aperture concentrates on collectives and the definition of political art making today. In addition to TVR’s forum, it features several other events as well as an exhibition of work by members of the featured collectives — EverydayClimateChange, Invisible Borders, Kamoinge, Piece of Cake, Rawi(ya), and WRRQ — which remains on view in the gallery through March 9.
When: Wednesday, March 1, 6–10pm
Where: Aperture Gallery and Bookstore (547 West 27th Street, 4th floor, Chelsea, Manhattan)
More info here.
The Latest
Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova Placed on Russian “Wanted” List
Tolokonnikova has long been thorn in the side of Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Vivan Sundaram, Veteran Indian Contemporary Artist, Dies at 79
Sundaram is celebrated for his multidisciplinary studio practice steeped in activism and political consciousness.
The Rubin Museum Presents Death Is Not the End
Tibetan Buddhist and Christian works of art made across 12 centuries explore death, the afterlife, and the desire to continue to exist. On view in NYC.
What’s Iconoclastic About a Blackface Madonna?
Artist Tony Rave’s work comes to remind us that piety is not strictly White.
The Most Stirring Press Photographs of 2022
Photographs captured war-torn Ukraine, the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, and an Iranian woman defying the mandatory hijab law.
When I Am Empty Please Dispose of Me Properly
Ayanna Dozier, Ilana Harris-Babou, Meena Hasan, Lucia Hierro, Catherine Opie, Chuck Ramirez, and Pacifico Silano explore the myths of the American Dream at Brooklyn’s BRIC House.
NY Governor’s Proposed Budget Slashes Pandemic-Era Arts Funds
The cuts to the New York State Council on the Arts budget are attributed to the expiration of pandemic relief programs, but advocates say arts organizations need more support.
MoMA Apologizes for Kicking Out Black Artist From Installation
Museum security asked Heather Agyepong to leave the installation Black Power Naps, meant as a safe space for Black people, after a White visitor called her “aggressive.”
Pratt’s 2023 Fine Arts MFA Thesis Exhibition Is On View in Brooklyn
The two-part exhibition features the work of 41 graduating artists across disciplines, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, and integrated practices.
New York’s BIPOC-Led Arts Orgs Are Grossly Underfunded
Proposed cuts to arts funding across the state would hit entities of color the hardest.
New Directors/New Films Festival Takes an Experimental Turn
A host of documentaries exemplify ND/NF’s unconventional programming philosophy.
The Milton Resnick and Pat Passlof Foundation Presents The Feminine in Abstract Painting
Curated by Jennifer Samet and Andrea Belag, this group exhibition in NYC explores the feminine through aesthetics, as opposed to identity or gender.
Memories So Fair and Bright
Kimetha Vanderveen’s paintings are about the interaction of materiality and light, the bond between the palpable and ephemeral world in which we live.
Artists Contemplate Sovereignty in Santa Fe
The Santa Fe Art Institute’s 2024 International Thematic Residency focuses on what sovereignty means for artists from across the world.