Cinema Remixed and Reloaded Part I & II

THE SPELMAN COLLEGE MUSEUM OF FINE ART AND THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS MUSEUM HOUSTON PRESENT PART II OF “CINEMA REMIXED AND RELOADED”

ATLANTA (January 11, 2008) The Spelman College Museum of Fine Art and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston collaborate to present the groundbreaking exhibition, “Cinema Remixed and Reloaded: Black Women Artists and the Moving Image Since 1970.” Opening Thursday, January 24, 2008, Part II of “Cinema Remixed and Reloaded” will feature projections, installations, interactive CD-ROM projects, experimental film and video work by more than 40 artists, and is the first exhibition to examine the critical contributions that black women continue to make to the field of video art. It includes contributions by established video, film and visual artists who began working with the medium in the 1970s, as well as emerging and mid-career artists.

Widely considered the most influential and pervasive contemporary medium, video art is a time-based medium that relies upon viewers’ willingness to allow the work to unfold from frame to frame. It deliberately and effectively incorporates a medium from mainstream culture to engage points of view that often run counter to the cultural norm.

Part I of “Cinema Remixed and Reloaded” (September 14 – December 8, 2007) received popular and critical acclaim, and featured works by several artists, including Jessica Ann Peavy, Howardena Pindell, Adrian Piper, Tracey Rose, Carrie Mae Weems, Paula Wilson and Lauren Woods. The works primarily focused on themes that engage the complex perceptions surrounding the black female body and the spaces of empowerment where women have defined themselves.

Cathy Fox, arts critic for the “Atlanta Journal-Constitution,” listed “Cinema Remixed and Reloaded” as her first choice for “value-added” exhibitions in 2007 and noted that this survey “brought together generations, powerful imagery and diverse themes.” Art critic Lisa Kurzner, writing for the “Atlanta Journal-Constitution” as well, noted, “Most germane are global and historical perspectives of feminism, race and gender identity, served up by an impressive roster of international artists of three generations.”

Part II of “Cinema Remixed and Reloaded” features such established artists as María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Julie Dash, Carroll Parrott Blue, Senga Nengudi, Berni Searle, Lorna Simpson and Kara Walker, and introduces works by emerging artists including Elizabeth Axtman, Zoë Charlton, Lauren Kelley and Xaviera Simmons. Promising to be equally engaging, Part II continues the explorations raised in Part I, examining such subjects as classic cinema and the male gaze. It will be on view at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art through May 24, 2008. The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston will present the exhibition from April 25 through July 12, 2009.

Curated by Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, Ph.D., director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art and Valerie Cassel Oliver, curator at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, “Cinema Remixed and Reloaded” traces the evolution of video presentation over three decades, chronicling the critical contributions of black women artists to the field of contemporary art. This collaboration encapsulates the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art’s unique mission as the only museum in the nation that focuses on works by and about women of the African Diaspora. Additionally, the exhibition reinforces the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston’s commitment to providing a forum for visual arts of the present and recent past to document new directions in the field of contemporary art.

BACKGROUND OF THE EXHIBITION Video art and installations emerged within an art context in the late 1960s as a young generation of artists defied the conventions and traditions of fine art. Unlike painting and sculpture, video enabled artists to explore the limits of a time-based medium that extended beyond performance. Despite the initial reluctance to include the medium in the fine arts canon, by the early 1990s video art and film installation work were dominating the international art world.

Now, more than 30 years since its emergence, video art is widely considered one of the most influential and pervasive genres of contemporary art. To date, scholarly examinations have focused on works of such pioneering artists as Nam June Paik, Jonas Mekas, Wolf Vostell, and Yoko Ono, as well as many of their contemporaries including Adrian Piper, and Bill Viola. Recently, artists such as Stan Douglas, Shirin Neshat and Lorna Simpson have garnered international acclaim for their video art and film-based installations. In spite of the widespread recognition of artists using the medium, the contributions of many Black artists, especially Black women artists, have largely gone unrecognized.

The Spelman College Museum of Fine Art and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston collaborate to critically examine this important, yet under examined, subject. Works featured in “Cinema Remixed and Reloaded” range from provocative to humorous to socially engaging to thought-provoking. While exploring personal experiences and dissecting popular visual culture, the artists in this exhibition provide contemporary views on several important topics including memory, loss, alienation, racial politics, gender inequities, empowerment and the pursuit of power.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS (PART II) Ina Archer, Elizabeth Axtman, Carroll Parrott Blue, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Zoë Charlton, Julie Dash, Zeinabu Irene Davis, Stephanie Dinkins, Shari Frilot, Colette Gaiter, Renée Green, Marguerite Harris, Pamela Jennings, Lauren Kelley, Yvette Mattern, Tracey Moffatt, Wangechi Mutu, Senga Nengudi, Michelle Parkerson, Eve Sandler, Berni Searle, Xaviera Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Kara Walker

Cinema Remixed and Reloaded Part I & II
Black Women Artists and the Moving Image since 1970
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston & Spelman College Museum of Fine Art

Cinema Remixed and Reloaded Part I
14.09.07 - 08.12.07 Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta
18.10.08 - 04.01.09 Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston
Kurator: Valerie Cassel Oliver
Künstler: Jessica Ann Peavy, Howardena Pindell, Adrian Piper, Tracey Rose, Carrie Mae Weems, Paula Wilson, Lauren Woods

Cinema Remixed and Reloaded Part II
24.01.08 - 24.05.08 Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta
25.04.09 - 12.07.09 Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston
Kuratoren: Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, Valerie Cassel Oliver
Künstler: Ina Archer, Elizabeth Axtman, Carroll Parrott Blue, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Zoe Charlton, Julie Dash, Zeinabu Irene Davis, Stephanie Dinkins, Shari Frilot, Colette Gaiter, Renée Green, Marguerite Harris, Pamela Jennings, Lauren Kelley, Yvette Mattern, Tracey Moffatt, Wangechi Mutu, Senga Nengudi, Michelle Parkerson, Eve Sandler, Berni Searle, Xaviera Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Kara Walker