Highlights from the ICA: Walid Raad’s Tricking Truth
- Patricia Plaszczyk
- 7 mag 2016
- Tempo di lettura: 3 min
Boston city, MA, is arguably more famous for its academic institutions and, perhaps, its prestigious marathon race, rather than for art. Despite this, and the fact that it has a thriving art scene, the focus of any art connoisseur, or simply anyone interested in art, should be shifted to the Institute of Contemporary Art, situated next to South Boston’s harbor.
The ICA is a world-class contemporary art museum and exhibition venue, designed by Dillar Scofidio + Renfro in 2006. The sharp glass angles of the architecture produce shifting perspectives of the waterfront and offers a contemplative space for exercising contemporary art. The beautiful venue is at present exhibiting the leading Conceptual artist (until May 30, 2016), Walid Raad and his concerns about the Middle East’s people, power and politics. The exhibition, divided into two distinct projects, presents 200 works across various mediums and addresses questions of how war affects memories, minds and cultures. So it seems.
Walid Raad, Installation view. Photo by John Kennard. Courtesy of Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
Along with the facts the art is built on, even though they are often not mentioned, there are details of the artist’s life. Walid Raad was born in Chbanieh, Lebanon in 1967 and grew up during the country’s civil war (1975-1990). He left his country for the United States in 1983, and then returned to Lebanon when the war ended and became part of the burgeoning art scene. In the last decade, he has become well-known in the art world for dealing with questions about people and places that have been left behind and the politics and memories associated with those places.
However, Raad’s exhibition at ICA, originally curated by Eva Respini at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, appears as though Raad’s art is addressing art itself rather than the places and people. While the artistic medium gives an initial non-fictional impression, it becomes clear at a second glance that it is imaginary and highly philosophical. In this case, Raad has taken up the tradition of a trickster — a role carried into modern art through the Dadaist Marcel Duchamp. Dada questioned long-held assumptions about what art should be and how it should be made. Raad’s art is neither kitsch not shocking nor as avant-garde as Duchamp’s. Nevertheless, it is interesting due to the fact that the pieces are built with deceptive outcomes. In Raad’s oeuvre, a lot of importance is given to performance, narrative and storytelling. Rather than addressing political meaning, the pieces investigate the relationship between history and its contradictory layers of meaning. While works are rooted in (fictional) historical facts, it is in the relationship between image and language that the meaning becomes doubted and shifted.
We decided to let them say, “we are convinced” twice. It was more convincing this way Installation view, Photo by John Kennard, Courtesy of the Museum
The two major bodies of work presented are The Atlas Group (1998-2004) and Scratching on Things I could Disavow (2007-ongoing). The former is a project, an imaginary foundation, established in 1999 aiming to research and document the contemporary history of Lebanon through fictionalized films, photographs and other objects, all produced by Raad, and linked to real events. The most prominent figure narrated in The Atlas Group is Dr. Fadl Fakhouri, “the most renowned historian of Lebanon.” He is a deliberately fabricated falsehood, playing on the West’s ignorance of the culture and history of Middle East.
The latter project, Raad’s most recent, addresses the Arab world’s emergence into the new infrastructure for visual arts in terms of art fairs, biennials, museums, and galleries. In addition to the two projects, there is Raad’s lecture performance, Walkthrough, a 55-minute theater and a vital part to the overall experience of the exhibition.
Scratching on Things I Could Disavow: Walkthrough, Photo by John Kennard. Courtesy of the Museum
The narrative plot is provocative and resembles a paranoid psychosis. Walkthrough, together with the other two projects, gives an idea of the naiveté of art, stimulating the viewer to think and re-question assumptions. What is asked, yet not answered, is whether art has any useful role in shaping history in a positive way. As unstable as it may sometimes seem in its construction of meaning, art reveals a profound power. Anyone who dares to address it, should pay attention to Walid Raad.
Walid Raad
February 24 - May 30, 2016
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
Address: 100 Northern Avenue, MA 02210, Boston
Info and contacts: http://www.icaboston.org
Opening hours: Tuesday and Wednesday: 10 am - 5 pm | Thursday and Friday: 10 am - 9 pm | Saturday and Sunday: 10 am - 5 pm | Closed Mondays
Tickets:
General - $15 | Students - $10 | Seniors - $13 | Youth under 17 - free
Comments