ART REVIEW | Pieter Hugo’s NOLLYWOOD @ YOSSI MILO

By Kat Kiernan

I am not sure how to best treat a bloodstain. Is it cold water? Tide? Or must the ruined article of clothing be thrown away? These are the thoughts that ran through my mind while viewing a man gut a bull, ruining his white dress shirt in the process. This oddly grotesque image is one of the many striking staged photographs in Nollywood, a Pieter Hugo exhibition at Yossi Milo gallery in New York.

Pieter Hugo, Gabazzini Zuo. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008

Entering the gallery I was met with a cold stare from a machete-wielding little person. His gaze locked with mine and set the tone for the rest of the show. The larger than life scale adds to the cinematic context of the work but upon closer examination the artist moves past the creation of a “film still.” The color is a bit de-saturated so as not to artificially heighten the absurdity, and the focus on the work moves from the film aspect to the cultural aspect. In our society we are told not to stare “don’t stare, it’s not polite” but in a gallery setting, in a white cube, the 30×40 black framed images invite the viewer to stare. So I do. Presented in this setting it is required.

As a white South African Hugo attempts to view this industry not as an outsider but as a fellow art maker. Rather than tagging along with the film crew, he emulates their process, taking to the streets with minimal budget, a former actor, and an assistant or two from the industry.

Despite working in similar locations and continuing his exploration of performing subjects and the gaze, I would not categorize this work with Hugo’s other well-known work The Hyena and Other Men as portraiture. Nollywood does not suggest a glimpse into the lives of actors nor does it give the viewer any sense of reality. While it does not offer us a glimpse of a person it does offer a glimpse of society. Secondary to Bollywood culture and tertiary to Hollywood, what the Nollywood images do show us what is sought after for entertainment. Nollywood does not have “actors” in the traditional sense; it is a straight-to-video low budget approach to movie making shot over the course of a week on location in the streets of Nigeria. The actors are volunteers, pulled off the streets to stand in for a scene. The lines are shouted, not spoken with any subtlety, and the gestures are often so over dramatic as to mimic the silent film era.

At first the vast difference in actor’s quality and skill between the Hollywood we know and the Nollywood we are being shown make the two industries appear to be disparate. Perhaps the two industries are more alike than not. Hugo presents his viewers with an absurd scenario in an ordinary setting. Is this so unlike the crime shows dominating our prime time? Is gutting a bull in the street wearing a suit so different from performing an autopsy in a prom dress? It is refreshing to see a body of work that while possessing a dark humor, possesses humor nonetheless. The layers that Hugo compels his viewers to dig though both aesthetically and culturally make Nollywood a refreshing intellectually clever show worth seeing. Exiting the gallery, the machete-wielding man’s eyes on my back I ask the question do the real differences regarding our entertainment standards lie in the production value?

Big Red & Shiny published this excellent review by Kat Kiernan (AIB Junior) on Pieter Hugo’s Nollywood exhibit, currently on view at Yossi Milo, NY.

Visiting guest artist YOAV HORESH

The Art Institute of Boston
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
1pm

Rosh Hashana Dinner (45 minutes) Zofar, Israel 2008
From the series Intransition
Copyright Yoav Horesh

Born in Jerusalem, Israel. Yoav Horesh received his BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston and an MFA from New York’s Columbia University.

For the past decade, Yoav has worked on water and landscapes series, as well as a number of photographic projects that deal with conflict, memory and recovery in Israel, Laos, The Gaza Strip, the American Southwest and more recently in Germany.

Currently Yoav is adjunct faculty at Mass College of Art in Boston, Queens College and Columbia University in New York. He has exhibited his work in the United States, Europe and Israel.

SELECT GENDER @ FARMANI GALLERY

Curators: Rafael Soldi, Paolo Morales & Elle Perez

Farmani Gallery
111 Front Street, Suite 212
Brooklyn, NY

April 01, 2010 – May 22, 2010
Press Preview: Thursday, April 1, 2010, from 5-6PM
Opening Public Reception: Thursday, April 1, 2010, from 6-830PM

Diana Russo

Kate Hutchinson

Caleb Cole

The show is co-curated by three young artists, including Paolo Morales from AIB(!), and includes works by Daniel Aguirre (also AIB), Carl Bower, Caleb Cole, Nicolas Djandji, Jason Hanasik, Jamil Hellu, Monique Bergen Henegouwen, Kate Hutchinson, Katie Koti, Diane Russo, J. Aiden Simon, Sarah Sudhoff, and Molly Landreth + Amelia Tovey.

Select Gender revolves around the themes of gender-based identity, self-awareness and gender-specific culture. Whether they are discussing their own identity or that of others, this diverse group of emerging photographers shows us different aspects and interpretations of perceived gender roles. The juxtapositions of gender queer, hyper masculinities, and ambiguous representations force the viewer to question his or her own perceptions and the legitimacy of a gender binary. Ultimately the goal of Select Gender is not to expose, shock, or titillate, but to offer reflection on the constructs and wide range of possibilities for gender expression.

Rafael Soldi is a Peruvian born, New York based photographer. He holds a degree in Photography and Curatorial Studies from the Maryland Institute College of Art. His work has been shown in NY with Humble Arts Foundation and Daniel Cooney Fine Art, Conner Contemporary Art in Washington D.C. as well as in Philadelphia, Atlanta and Baltimore.

Paolo Morales has studied at the Art Institute of Boston, International Center of Photography, San Francisco Art Institute and School of Visual Arts. His work has been exhibited in New York and Boston. He is a curator of Gallery South at the Art Institute of Boston.

Elle Perez is a photographer currently based in Baltimore, MD. She has studied Photography and Gender Studies and she has exhibited in Maryland and New York. Perez is the director of the Wlgus Gallery at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Amy Stein at the Harvard Museum of Natural History

Amy Stein’s photographs in her series Domesticated explore the tenuous relationship between humans and animals. These scenes are constructed using taxidermied animals and are inspired by true events in the setting of rural Pennsylvania. Her series is currently on view at the Harvard Museum of Natural History through April 18th.

Stein was named one of the top fifteen emerging photographers in the world by American Photo magazine. Her work has exhibited at the ClampArt gallery, New York, NY; Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Pool Gallery, Berlin, Germany; and the Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.

PRC Student Show

“From its large universities to its smaller colleges, New England is rich with gifted students and scholars. Among these programs, photography has always flourished, making this an area celebrated within photo history. This annual exhibition honors academic diversity and thus features work selected by the schools themselves. Students and visitors alike enjoy seeing the work displayed in a gallery setting, as well as the opportunity to witness each program’s unique approach to photography and related media.”

The PRC student show is up until April 4th and features work from: Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, Boston College, Boston University, Center for Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University, Endicott College, Emerson College, Fitchburg State College, Hallmark Institute of Photography, Massachusetts College of Art + Design, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Newbury College, New England Institute of Art, New England School of Photography, Northeastern University, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Rhode Island School of Design, Simmons College, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and Wellesley College.

For more information on each school’s submissions and photography programs visit the PRC’s website by clicking the title of the post.

AIPAD PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW New York

Tu, March 23rd at 1:15 @ MIT/LIST with Mark Linga

MIT List Visual Arts Center
20 Ames Street, Bldg. E15
Atrium level
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
617-253-4680

Letitia Huckaby (AIB alumna) @ South Dallas Cultural Center

http://www.youtube.com/v/e0V4x0aIYTs&hl=en_US&fs=1&

South Dallas Cultural Center
LA 19 (God’s Daughters): Works by Letitia Huckaby
Through Saturday, April 24

As is often true for many artists, Letitia Huckaby’s latest project, LA 19 (Daughters of God), did not start recently, but developed over the course of her life. Her extended family that, for the most part, lived on or off of Louisiana state highway nineteen, hence the title of this show. LA 19 (Daughters of God) honors Huckaby’s female family members who helped to create a new aesthetic of quilts, the jazzy patchwork quilts, out of sheer craftiness and necessity. These Jazzy quilts seemed to parallel the more male dominated world of jazz music. Many of the women made these quilts, so as a visual artist Letitia felt inspired to take hold of this rich visual legacy and make it a part of her work. Letitia Huckaby blends her love of photography with her long time connection to traditional quilt making forming a wholly personal aesthetic.

For more info on Letitia Huckaby visit her website