Cracher une image de toi

VNH Gallery is delighted to present the group exhibition by Hannah Buonaguro, Mimosa Echard and Ryan Foerster entitled “Cracher une image de toi / Spitting an image of you” (July 3 – 27, 2019). A curtain separates the audience from the space dedicated to the set—the place that movement and sound and objects inhabit. There are markings on the wall, and other ones all around (clothing, furniture, papers) which imply a performance—one that has already happened, or may happen, or is happening (in a present-continuous way). The three artists have convened to ask the ongoing questions: out of all the things they encounter each day, which are significant enough to present? What words and images take precedent, when they speak in different tongues? Everything we do is immediately and inevitably pushed into realm of pastime(1), as time has passed. If we think about what we want to do in futuretime, it seems to just be a repetition of things we’ve done in the past. Thus, all of it is “pastime”. Remove one of the t’s because the past merges with the time. Try to do something new while unknowingly rooting things in the old ways. When they met, it wasn’t summer yet. Soon it will be; a strawberry moon will appear just before the solstice. Emphasizing the nature of their relationships to one another as well as to the environment and the world around them, the artists employ sculpture, textile, writing, photography, and drawing into their work. Their installations consist of works made and salvaged: things they create within the studio and find on a daily basis in their travels; artifacts retained from various experiences. Themes of home/shelter, relationships, memory, and social and political concerns emerge in their work. All the artists seek to combine personal, intimate movements within the context of a bigger and more uncontrollable world and media landscape. The movements in their potential performance(s) may never be watched by any specific audience, but instead will activate the space and the installation beforehand, or throughout, the exhibition. Scores and dialogues scattered throughout the text, and clothing left behind, are all reminders of the day-to-day conversations and actions and needs, as well as the desire to connect within—or despite—the society of the spectacle. The desire for an unfragmented view of reality —of wanting to be whole, as opposed to a disembodied part of some unknown equation of what it is to be human. We could all just say: O si chère de loin (2) —meaning you are so dear to me even from afar—and mean it. And try to bridge that gap. And try to spit the image of you, in a good way.

an avenue

at last

a place where they will

look into it

and try to fix it

the length of surprise, the space between

the jingle of your keys,

all our own alphabets

raised characters to

time

flipped

breath of willpower

i can write a poem in the morning

i can swallow pride

i can signify you

i can cross the curtain

detail you

or myself

if only i had the tools

anything could work

but nothing will work

can you look up

at the distance between us?

Hannah Buonaguro

(1) pas·time /pastīm / (noun) an activity that someone does regularly for enjoyment rather than work; a hobby.

(2) Mallarmé

Hannah Buonaguro was born in 1991 in New Jersey (USA). She currently lives and works in New York (USA).

Mimosa Echard was born in 1986 in Alès (France). She currently lives and works in Nogent-sur-Marne (France).

Ryan Foerster was born in 1983 in Newmarket (Canada). He currently lives and works in New York (USA).