Surface I (2016)
16mm film, hand processed and transferred to video
Sound by Cami Dominguez and Zoe Biggers
By Cami Dominguez, Amherst College
Originally published in the 2018 print edition.
Writing on Vaginal Davis’ recent exhibition, “Chimera,” Aaron Su proposes that her painted portraits of famous women of color provide a blueprint for understanding identities as unstable, porous, and permeable. Su draws on the idea of the chimeric subject to gesture towards the potential for bodies to exist outside of definition and to find agency in the non-normative. Originally published in the 2018 print edition and now available online at journalofartcriticism.com.⠀
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Image: Vaginal Davis, Miyoshi Umeki, 2017, watercolor paper, nail varnish, glycerin, witch hazel, mascara, eyebrow pencil, Jean Nate perfume, Afro Sheen hair conditioner, hair spray, pomade, 5.125 x 3.375 inches. Courtesy Invisible-Exports.
Pinup (2017), mixed media collage. By Jasmine Weber, Columbia University.⠀
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Originally published in the 2018 print edition. Pick up a copy today or find more from this year's issue online at journalofartcriticism.com.
Anastatia Spicer illustrates John Paul Morabito’s series, “Frottage,” to discuss how textiles translate the relationship between the artist’s hand, matter, and technology. Understanding textiles as surfaces that record their interactions with other bodies and substances, Spicer suggests that these weavings provide a uniquely intimate experience for both artists and viewers. Originally published in the 2018 print edition, now available in bookstores and online.⠀
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Image: John Paul Morabito, Frottage 018 (2015), cotton and wool, 47 x 41 inches. Courtesy the artist. Photo Credit: Cassandra Davis.
Input Output I and Input Output II (2017), digital embroidery on linen. By Ella Viscardi, Barnard College.⠀
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Originally published in the 2018 print edition. Find more from the third issue of JAC on our website, journalofartcriticism.com.
Tina Shan argues that Ren Hang’s photographic composition of nude bodies evades categorization, making room for more fluid states of being and blurring boundaries of gender and sexuality. Originally published in the 2018 print edition, this essay and others are now available online at journalofartcriticism.com.⠀
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Image: Ren Hang, Untitled (2014), C-print, 27 x 40 cm – 67 x 100 cm. Courtesy of ON/gallery.
By Cami Dominguez, Amherst College. Still from Surface I (2016), 16mm film, hand processed and transferred to video. Sound by Cami Dominguez and Zoe Biggers. ⠀
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Originally published in the 2018 print edition. Watch the film on our website, journalofartcriticism.com.
Natalie Edwards writes on Diana Al-Hadid’s engagement with ruins in her sculpture, Nolli’s Orders. Often framed as a reminder of destruction, Edwards reimagines the ruin as a site where residues from converging cultures endure despite increasingly precarious conditions. Originally published in the 2018 print edition and now available online at journalofartcriticism.com.⠀
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Image: Diana Al-Hadid, Nolli's Orders (2012), polymer gypsum, fiberglass, steel, wood, polystyrene, plaster, aluminum foil, and pigment. Measures 264 x 228 x 122 inches. Courtesy of the artist. Photo credit: Jason Wyche.
Back to the Breast (2017), interactive eco-inflatable installation, organic cotton coated in natural latex, measures 60ft x 32ft x 20ft (18m x 10m x 6m). By Carina Hardy, Barnard College.⠀
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Originally published in the 2018 print edition, now available in bookstores and online.
Then, Molasses (2017), platinotype. By Shelby Ragsdale, School of the Art Institute of Chicago.⠀
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Originally published in the 2018 print edition. Read more from the third issue of the Journal of Art Criticism on our website, journalofartcriticism.com.
