Questions of privilege aside, the range of abstract works reminded me how artists are providing nuanced ways of thinking about identity that move beyond exclusion/inclusion binaries.
Author Archives: Alpesh Kantilal Patel
Alpesh Kantilal Patel is an art historian, critic, and curator. His book Productive Failure: Writing Queer Transnational South Asian Art Histories was published in 2017 by Manchester University Press.
A Philosophical and Practical Handbook on the Development of Artistic Ideas
Allan DeSouza’s book is both a reflective investigation exploring how artistic meaning takes shape and a functional handbook that clarifies terms often used in the art world without much lucidity.
Grand Narratives of Freedom and Identity Dominate the Latvian Capital’s First Biennial
While some works in the Riga Biennial address a specific historical event, only a handful explore individual or personal stories.
Imaginary Homelands, Shahzia Sikander in Lahore
This photo essay tells the story of an artist’s view of her experience at a new and important biennale.
A Polish Filmmaker Explores Trans Identity Through Abstraction
Wojciech Puś’s Endless is loosely based on the life of a trans woman, but it is not about a journey from point A to point B.
Gathering Gossip and Parsing Truth at the Istanbul Biennial
ISTANBUL — “Gossip,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is “trifling or groundless rumour.” I actually like to think of it as knowledge, but the kind that’s not considered true or rational — at least not yet anyway.