The 2008 Foster Prize at the ICA, Adel Abdessemed at MIT’s List Visual Arts Center
By EVAN J. GARZA | November 26, 2008
Adel Abdessemed, Practice Zero Tolerance Retournûe |
“Artist Talk: James and Audry Foster Prize Finalists” at Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Ave, Boston | December 7 at 1 pm | 617.478.3100
“The 2008 James and Audry Foster Prize” at Institute of Contemporary Art | Through March 1 | 617.478.3100
“Gallery Talk With Mark Linga” at MIT List Visual Arts Center, 20 Ames St, Building E15, Cambridge | December 10 at 12:30 pm | 617.253.4680
“Algeria in France” at Bartos Theatre at the MIT List Visual Arts Center | December 11 at 7 pm | 617.253.4680
“Adel Abdessemed: Situation and Practice” at MIT List Visual Arts Center | Through January 4 | 617.253.4680 |
Although it's no stretch to say that contemporary artists are eager to say something, the art world has seen its fair share of awkwardly shitty gallery talks. Apart from a few bad apples, however, the opportunity to hear an artist speak about his/her work can be as rewarding as seeing it in the flesh (as long as the work is good to begin with). If the quality of the "2008 James and Audry Foster Prize" exhibition at the ICA is any indication, the discussion will be well worth your time. On Sunday December 7, the quartet of featured artists — Catherine D'Ignazio, Rania Matar, Andrew Witkin, and Joe Zane — will verbalize their points of view in "ARTIST TALK: JAMES AND AUDRY FOSTER PRIZE FINALISTS" (while implicitly making their case for the $25,000 award, which gets announced in January). The annual exhibit, which seeks to acknowledge locally based early-career artists "of exceptional promise," is divided among four galleries, one space for each artist, and the truly diverse assortment of media includes photography, video, neon, painting, sculpture, and installation.If that doesn't slake your thirst for art chat, the following two talks at the MIT List Visual Arts Center are sure to quench. On Wednesday December 10, "GALLERY TALK WITH MARK LINGA" will find the LVAC educator addressing the work in "ADEL ABDESSEMED: SITUATION AND PRACTICE." Abdessemed has lived in Paris since 1999, but he was born in Algeria, and that leads right into the next evening's lecture. "ALGERIA IN FRANCE," with Paul A. Silverstein, Carnegie Scholar and associate professor of anthropology at Reed College, will address the Algerian relationship to France and its impact on Algerian immigrants in contemporary French culture. For those who haven't seen it: Abdessemed's show is a profound collection of photographs of the artist introducing wild North African animals (among them a pack of boars and a full-grown lion) to the streets of Paris, large-scaled looped video projections, the life-size terra cotta mold of an overturned and incinerated car, and a monumental 16x24 foot black-charcoal drawing created while the artist was suspended from a helicopter by his feet. Why on Earth does any of this require an explanation? Your guess is as good as mine.
On the Web
Institute of Contemporary Art: www.icaboston.org
MIT List Visual Arts Center: www.listart.mit.edu
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