signs and symbols presents artists & allies III, the third edition of its annual summer program — a dynamic exhibition of time-based media — video works, video documentation of performances, live streamed-performances and sound. Conceived as an experimental glimpse into its program and upcoming season, the annual summer exhibition is comprised of a selection of works by artists of the gallery, along with ally artists who contribute to the gallery’s discourse.
Narrated by the legendary Brian O’Doherty, we enter a space in which none of the laws that govern our daily lives seem to matter anymore. The rhythmic dance of a boxer caresses you with his fists. A father and son weed a suburban lawn. Alter egos appear in drag. A bicycle wagon distributes ice cream and artist zines. We take a stroll through a magical woodland to the haunting melody of a waltz. The personal experience of motherhood is explored through movement, storytelling and song. Former characters make cameo appearances, while others are recontextualized from previous works into hypnotic new visual essays. We go from an explorative adventure meandering through the hidden undergrounds of Berlin, to a vacant theater in Bilbao, to the discrete movement of creatures dotted around a mudflat in Korea. We listen to a polyphony of ideas, avowals and utterances from the people of New York. We ponder the ambivalent and ambiguous relationship between authority and social reality. The absurdity of human relationships. The melodramas of existence and alternate realities. We contemplate the environment, and our changing relationships to technology. In our collective crises, gestures and self-awareness become the ritual for healing. Ghosts from the past are resurrected and enter the present in order to speak about future utopias.
Devised with the intent for dialogue, overlap and exchange, artists & allies is not a singular position, but presents a diverse assemble of style and substance from artists with unique sensibilities, and doubles as a snapshot and overview of signs and symbols’s program and entry point to many of its strongest voices.
Participating artists include: Adam Bloomberg, Jen Denike, Michelle Handelman, Joan Jonas, Carol Szymanski, Tony Orrico, Rachel Libeskind, Jeewi Lee, Donna Conlon, JAŠA, Itziar Barrio, Kalup Linzy, Annabel Daou, Ornella Fieres, Miles Greenberg, Nicholas Grafia + Mikołaj Sobczak, ULAY, Mischa Leinkauf, Guy de Lancey, Melinda Jean Myers, Shelley Marlow, Fawz Kabra, Gabriel Cyr, Isak Berbic, Brian O’Doherty.
