LOOKING AT JIMMIE DURHAM IT IS HARD NOT TO FIND A KINDRED SPIRIT. THAT A MILLENNIAL CHEROKEE COULD BE EXPERIENCING A PARALLEL EXISTENCE WITH AN ARTIST TURNING 77 IS ASTONISHING.
FROM THEMES TO PROCESSES, THE SIMILARITIES ARE UNCANNY, CREATING OEUVRES THAT EVOKE SPIRITS SEPARATED YET BOUND THROUGH TIME. THE FORM OF THE TOTEM IN 1989 RETURNING IN 2012, THE USE OF ASSEMBLAGE BINDING INVISIBLE QUANTUM STINGS.
MOVING TO EUROPE 20 YEARS AGO, DURHAM HAS LARGELY CHOSEN NOT TO EXHIBIT IN THE USA. HIS WORK IS CRUCIALLY CONNECTED TO IMPORTANT ACTIVITIES, MOVEMENTS, & GENRES OF AMERICAN ARTISTIC PRODUCTION: THE SCULPTURAL ASSEMBLAGE OF FOUND OBJECTS, APPROPRIATION OF TEXT AND IMAGE, INSTITUTIONAL CRITIQUE, POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION, PERFORMANCE & TO THE COLONIAL HISTORY AND THE POWER STRUGGLES OF THE COUNTRY.
JIMMIE DURHAMS’ TRAVELING RETROSPECTIVE PRESENTS A MIXED BLESSING. THE PROLIFIC CHEROKEE ARTIST RECEIVING NATIONAL RECOGNITION ONLY HIGHLIGHTS THE THOUSANDS OF THOUSANDS OF INDIGENOUS ARTISTS THAT WILL NEVER RECEIVE A FRACTION OF INTEREST OR EXPOSURE. THE UNSPOKEN TRAVESTY IN AMERICAN “CONTEMPORARY ART“ THERE ARE NO SEATS FOR NATIVE ARTISTS.
LIVING & WORKING IN THE 305, WE ARE ALL TO FAMILIAR WITH THE INVISIBLE GRIP OF THE CONQUISTADOR, ONE OF TWO DOMINATOR TRIBES IN SOUTH FLORIDA. IF YOU AREN’T TRIBAL, BEST OF LUCK GETTING AHEAD. ONE OF MANY REASONS WE STARTED THIS BLOG. VISIBILITY IS A DEFIANT FORM OF ACTIVISM, VIEWABLE ANYWHERE, AT ANY TIME, IN ANY COUNTRY, REPRESENTATION NOT CONTROLLED BY INSTITUTIONAL HIERARCHIES OR THE UNDERTOWS OF NEPOTISM.
924COLLECTIVE 