Imran Qureshi, And They Still Seek The Traces Of Blood, 2013 – 2014. Courtesy the artist photo M HKA
This generational show homes in on the socially mediated, multilayered subjectivity of peers globally connected by their coming of age in the post-“End of History”, post 9/11 and post-peace context we inhabit. The challenge for an identity that is always in flux, always becoming, is to negotiate sustainable ways of remaining productive in this era of ‘posts’. The era is marked by a fatigue of Po-Mo scepticism and the deconstructive project – a fatigue that brought about the ironic turn now inherent in popular culture, or the more grave populist dismissal of high theory.
It’s hard to think of a more complex premise for a show. Indeed, occupying all three levels of Antwerp’s Museum of Modern Art, some curatorial choices appeal more than others. Haegue Yang’s “VIP’s Union” (2001-2014) uses chairs and tables borrowed from personalities considered important in their fields. Here, Yang particularly made pains to obtain furniture from luminaries connected to Antwerp, such as Ann Demeulemeester or Luc Tuymans, linking stylistic expression to locale. Iman Issa’s sculptural pieces from the series “Material” (2009-2012) are perfectly associative, combining the aesthetically abstract with the formally familiar, and combined with historically evocative titles. Patrizio Di Massimo’s three paintings from “The Lustful Turk” (all 2013) and his installation “Me, Mum, Mister, Mad” (2014) eroticize the decorative object, a stand-in for “Othering”. His is a new surrealism for the historically aware.
In fact, the relations between objects and subjectivity are explored extensively throughout the show. Hedwig Houben searches for the links between the identity of the makers and the object they produce. While conceptually intriguing, her video-performances are somewhat dry. Onkar Kular and Noam Toran’s video and installation “I cling to virtue” (2010) weave a fictional narrative around the trajectories of the Lövy-Singh clan, a Jewish-Sikh family whose story runs through the 20th Century. Mundane objects set in a museological display aid as points of entry into the twisting narrative.
Review by Hili Perlson.
“Don’t you know who I am?” is on until September 14, 2014 at M HKA Antwerp.