For this issue of Decorating Dissidence we wanted to reflect on last year’s centenary of the Bauhaus. Now at 101 years, the celebrations may be over but the movement’s legacy still offers much to be learned, developed and reflected on.
Adejoke Tugbiyele (b.1977, New York, USA) is an award-winning, queer, black artist. Her work often comments on human rights issues around the world, and her own identity as a queer woman of Nigerian descent. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York where she continues to make artwork and engage in advocacy projects.
A round up of things to visit, watch, read, and apply for in March…
PACITA ABAD THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING (1998) OIL, PLASTIC BUTTONS AND BEADS, ON STITCHED AND PADDED CANVAS, 300 X 270 CM. WORK COURTESY THE PACITA ABAD ART ESTATE. PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY PIONEER STUDIOS, MANILA
Visit
Life in the Margins – the first UK exhibition of Filipino American artist Pacita Abad (1946 – 2004) – is in its final month at Bristol’s Spike Island. Abad engages with diverse cultural traditions of art making to explore the experience of immigrants and the transnational modern world. Abad’s ‘trapunto’ paintings are real highlights, which the artist made by quilting canvases and layering them with textiles and decorative objects.
There’s still time to catch the fabulous Unbound: Visionary Women Collecting Textilesat Two Temple Place. Through a celebration of seven pioneering twentieth century textile collectors, this exhibition explores the sociopolitical role textiles play in cultural histories from the 18th Century to the modern day. Don’t forget Enam Gbewonyo’s performance in the gallery on 15th April!
Unbound: Visionary Women Collecting Textiles 25th January 2020 – 19th April 2020Enam Gbewonyo
Fabric: Touch and Identity brings out the sensorial and sensual qualities of textiles, fashion and fabric, featuring work by Raisa Kabir, Alice Kettle and a new installation Ogi no mai / Japanese Fanfare by Reiko Sudo. The show at Compton Verney in Warwickshire and opens 14th March-14th June.
Watch
Jes Fan in Flux, a short film of the artist discussing the creation of organ-like glass sculptures filled with fat, testosterone, and oestrogen, and the ways in which Fan’s experience of transitioning inform his art practice.
Jes Fan in Flux
Keep an eye out for Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am at art house cinemas around the UK. The documentary sees the legendary author leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, history, America and the human condition.
Make sure to catch Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire in cinemas. Set in late 18th century France, this film follows Parisian artist Marianne (Noémie Merlant) and her memories of painting ‘the lady on fire’, the portrait of covent girl Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) and their passionate story that explores love, power, gaze, and authorship.
Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel in Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Mother Art Prize is open until 14th March. This is the only international open call for self-identifying women and non-binary visual artists with caring responsibilities.
Apply to be part of the Peckham Craft Show until 31st March. This years Peckham Craft, dedicated to curating an exhibition of handmade objects, opens on Thursday 30th April until Sunday 3rd May.
If you would like to share an event, film, exhibition, performance, or news about an application to be included in our next issue, please email decoratingdissidence@gmail.com
The William Morris Gallery’s compact but eye-opening exhibitions in their temporary gallery space never disappoint – and Pioneers: William Morris and the Bauhaus is no exception.