Liliana Porter, Man with Axe and Other Stories (detail), 2017; figurines, objects, and wooden base, dimensions variable. Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami. Photo: John SchweikertLiliana Porter, Man with Axe and Other Stories, 2017; figurines, objects, and wooden base, dimensions variable. Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami. Photo: Photo: John SchweikertInstallation view of Liliana Porter, Man with Axe and Other Stories at the Frist Museum. Photo: John Schweikert
Argentina-born artist Liliana Porter’s provocative arrangements of objects and toys tell stories that are at once psychologically charged and slyly humorous. The centerpiece of the exhibition, Man with Axe, features a tiny plastic figure of an axe-wielding man who appears to have demolished an array of items, from dollhouse furniture to large vases, clocks, and even a full-size piano. This trail of destruction signals both the entropic effects of time and the collapse of historical progress that can be caused by a single agent of chaos. In Man with Axe, Porter (b. 1941) asks big questions: Who are we? What do we do? What’s it about?
from the accompanying exhibition text
Liliana Porter, To Do It: Red Sand III, 2020; sand and figurine on wooden base. Photo: John SchweikertLiliana Porter, Man with Axe and Other Stories, 2017; figurines, objects, and wooden base, dimensions variable. Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami. Photo: John SchweikertLiliana Porter, Untitled at Sea with Gardener, 2016; acrylic and assemblage on canvas. Photo: John SchweikertLiliana Porter, Forced Labor (red sand), 2008; red sand, figurine and white shelf. Photo: John Schweikert
Sherae Rimpsey speaks with Cheyenne Wyzzard-Jones about Toni Cade Bambara's The Salt Eaters, Blackness and the politics and spirit of place found in Introduction: Black Spiritual Ecologies at the Front, New Orleans.
Amina Daugherty visits the Atlanta studio of Jasmine Nicole Wiliams to discuss the printmaker's kinship with Suzanne Césaire and her radical vision for cultural liberation.
Renee Royale explores the work of Martinique-based artist David Gumbs, who reframes the lived environment and considers Caribbean relational histories through reactive light and crochet installations.
Subscribe to BurnawaySign up to recieve the Burnaway newsletter and get notified about upcoming events and opportunities.* required field
