FINANCIAL DISTRICT
An exhibition curated by Miguel Amado
Works by Olivier Babin, Elena Bajo, Beth Campbell, Alexandra do Carmo, Lotte Lindner & Till Steinbrenner, Mads Lynnerup, Rä di Martino, Isola and Norzi, Marisa Olson, Anna Ostoya, Miguel Palma, Carlos Roque, Antonio Rovaldi, Andrea Schneemeier, Nedko Solakov, Marko Tadić, Brina Thurston, Alex Villar, and Zimmerfrei
Artists' writings and books by Michael Blum, Elmgreen & Dragset, Liam Gillick, Henrik Plenge Jakobsen, Carlos Motta, Michael Rakowitz, Lisi Raskin, Oliver Ressler, and xurban_collective
Artists' talks by Carlos Motta, Lisi Raskin, and Hakan Topal + Alex Villar
Friday, May 8 - Monday, May 11, 2009
Press preview: Friday, May 8, 5 - 7 PM
Opening reception: Friday, May 8, 7 - 9 PM
The International Studio & Curatorial Program proudly presents the exhibition Financial District, organized by Miguel Amado, curator-in-residence in 2009. Financial District brings together resident artists at ISCP as well New York-based and international artists whose works allegorically respond to, comment on, and conjecture about the relationship between the contemporary global economic climate and the US cultural landscape. Featuring media as diverse as painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, video, and performance, as well as artists' writings, books, and talks, this exhibition provides an exclusive peek into the output of some of the most significant socially-conscious, critically-engaged practitioners of today.
The Financial District marks the urban scenery of all major American cities. However, more than an architectural trait or geographical location, the Financial District stands for an ideology, that of the "new spirit of capitalism," which has developed over the past few decades and which has been recently questioned in the wake of the financial crisis that emerged last year. Therefore, although affecting all sectors, the existing situation's consequences expand beyond the field of economy, for example changing production capacities and consumption patterns. This condition is thus altering everyday life in the manner classical sociologists have predicted when they called attention to the process of alienation in capitalist societies.
Financial District addresses these topics in various ways. On view are depictions of street scenes in Brooklyn and American territories; iconographies of the real estate boom and crash; renderings of newspapers' statistical data and collections of New Yorker's fears; and representations of America in film, press, or personal diaries. Other works examine the connection between money and time, systems of value, and labor trends. Quotes of Karl Marx, reflections on the market, accounts of material exchange, allusions to gold, comments on Nasdaq and visions of experimental factories evoke theoretical traditions and individual experiences of capital. This exhibition sheds light on the current state of affairs in the world economy and US culture, speculating how both are sides of the same coin.
International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP)
1040 Metropolitan Avenue,
Brooklyn, NY 11211
www.iscp-nyc.org
