‘say the dream was real and the wall imaginary’ urges interior introspection

New York based Jane Lombard Gallery’s latest exhibition ‘say the dream was real and the wall imaginary’ features the works of eight artists who investigate the physical and ideological borders and boundaries that often limit individuals. In doing so, they transcend them and present the limits upto which these walls can be stretched and navigated. Some of the artists whose works dot the gallery include Ambreen Butt, Anita Groener, Azita Moradkhani, Becci Davis, Kanishka Raja, Margarita Cabrera, Spandita Malik and Tom Molloy. Curated by Joseph R Wolin, the exhibition is themed on a poem by American poet, Richard Siken called ‘Why’. The poem urges readers to create more spaces and routes in order to encourage participation by all.

Each of the eight artists examine the walls that they have been confronted with in their lives. These can be physical borders and boundaries of rooms, nations, cities and territories or ideological walls that may not be visible, but limit us in moving on our desired paths. While Siken’s poem rightly highlights the theme of the exhibition, each piece displayed in the gallery elaborates on it.

Irish artist Anita Groener and Texas based Margarita Cabrera, specifically focus their attention on the borders that exist between countries and the role they play in the lives and experiences of refugees who escape their homes in order to seek refuge elsewhere. Cabera’s ‘Space in Between’ explores the tension that perpetually impacts lives at the US-Mexico border. For her art installation, she collaborated with immigrants to create sculptural Installations that mirror the experiences of the refugees. On the other hand, Groener’s installation, which is a blend of the physical and virtual, and features an art sculpture and some video works, presents narrations of the making and breaking of homes, drawing from both personal experiences and from the experiences of those who get displaced due to violence.

Irish artist, Tom Molloy, who currently lives in France, also explores the impact of demarcations levied across the globe. With a paraphernalia of photographs, postcards and sculptural works, he attests to the fact that these demarcations lead to real problems. Ambreen Butt, who hails from Pakistan and is based in Southlake Texas, in her series ‘Say My Name’, constructs abstract compositions using the names of the children and teenagers who have been killed at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border by US drone strikes owing to the endless war waged against them. In doing so, she highlights the hypocrisy of the nation that claims that save and protect individuals but instead ends up bombing the most innocent spectrum of the Far East.

‘Isaiah’s Inventory/Searching for Junior’, a video showcase by Becci Davis, expresses her desire to un-write history pertaining to her her fifth great-grandfather, who was enslaved by a nineteenth-century Southern slave owner. Her video showcase, thus runs backwards, leaving an uncomfortable aura around it that can catalyse conversations on race and slavery. Spandita Malik, an artist based between India and the USA, presents a series of portraits of Indian women, who in their domestic spaces, create stitching and embroidery works in their regional styles.

Iranian artist Azita Moradkhani, currently based in Brooklyn, with her delicate series of drawings that merge fancy lingerie with the cultural archetypes and political protest, highlights the distortions that patriarchal structures leave behind. Kanishka Raja, an Indian artist who hails from Kolkata, presents abstract works that merge scenes from airports, shopping malls, corporate lobbies and refugee camps to present a dystopian future devoid of human presence.

With their distinct and diverse range of presentations, the exhibitors urge the visitors to question the demarcations that divide them and the walls that limit them. In doing so, one can look beyond the horizon and into a new world.

The exhibition ‘say the dream was real and the wall imaginary’ will remain on display until 23 April 2022 at the Jane Lombard Gallery in New York City, USA.