NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, July 25, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Curated by Charles Moore, When Angels Speak of Love brings together the extraordinary works of Rebecka Jackson and Turiya Magadlela in an exploration of how the realm of contemporary textiles, and craft illuminate narratives of perpetuated violence against women and the Black body. In a metamorphosis of use and form, these artists transform the commonplace item into a catalyst for challenging our complacency with systems of social and political oppression.

Based in Los Angeles, Rebecka Jackson approaches art from an interdisciplinary perspective. Working at the intersections of tangible forms, such as film, and the performative, from theater and experimental social activist works, she presents a hyper-focused vision of the present while examining the political and social insinuations of the events impacting us today. While her work tackles countless issues of the current moment, she looks at the historical lineages that shape our global community leaving individuals around the world displaced, persecuted, and threatened.

Turiya Magadlela, a South African artist, hones her practice by shedding light on contemporary racialized and gendered experiences. For Magadlela, she has embraced the techniques of textile work and transformed them into social commentary. Sewing, embroidery, and deconstruction of garments, she has created a signature method of combining the figurative and the abstract into haunting experiences that unveil the traumas of eroticization and violence against the black body.

Within When Angels Speak of Love are works by both artists that showcase their distinctive approaches to artmaking with a common material, pantyhose. While the inherent femininity of craft, sewing, weaving, and the construction of clothing, in general, is continually underscored within their practice. However, the delicate nature of the craft and those who embark on it are subverted by the horrifying yet true implications.

The exhibition features work by Jackson—a fusion of mismatched pantyhose forms bulbous organic forms that resemble bodies at a larger-than-life scale. The opacity and slightly off-putting flesh-like colors of the material cause these figures to radiate an eeriness. The distorted bodies carry a simultaneous contemporaneity and history. With works like “Slave Ship,” where the minimalist abstracted bodies are trapped together like sardines, the perpetuated dehumanization of the black body is inevitably called into question. These works are accompanied by a suspended panel of pantyhose that melds together into a filmy semi-transparent backdrop for projected images assembled by Jackson.

Mirroring the panel are the enveloping tapestry-like works of Magadlela. Combining patches of flesh, neutral tones, and hues of red pantyhose, the artist creates conceptual portraits of the lived experiences of trauma and violence endured along racial and gendered lines. The exhibition features work from various series throughout the artist’s career. We cannot help but recognize the intensity and vivacity of the colors intensify as her work progresses. Entranced yet held at a distance, her work becomes an intimate look at the psychology that mirrors the physical experiences and violence perpetrated today.

In dialogue, Jackson and Magadlela’s works create a haunting convergence of the abstract and figurative, instigating a series of visceral reactions that draw on memory and feeling. This convergence manifests a palpable push and pull as one experiences the exhibition. Their manipulations of texture, lights, and form create a tension that draws in viewers by the beauty and repels them with the insurmountable weight of the histories, stories, and tragedies they carry. We, as viewers, are now implicated. Our comprehension of these systems of oppression and our complacency with our relationships to them are laid out before us as the idealized feminine forms are distorted, obscured, and violated. We are called upon to acknowledge and act.

When Angels Speak of Love will be on view at Triangle Loft in New York City, NY, from August 3, 2023, through September 4, 2023. The show will premiere with an Opening Reception event on August 3, 2023, from 6 pm – 9 pm. The gallery is open to visitors Tuesday – Saturday by appointment.

About the Artists
Rebecka Jackson is an interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles, California. From film to dance, activism, and multimedia performance, her diverse activism-driven practice dissects the current state of political and social events, emphasizing instances of violence. She holds an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Stage Management and Film and her BA in Theater and Dance from the University of Missouri in St. Louis and Theatrical and Film studies at the University of Legon in Ghana. In addition to directing and producing film, television, theater, and live performances, her work has been exhibited and performed at institutions, including MM Art Gallery and the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice.

Turiya Magadlela is a South African artist repurposing textiles to challenge society's gendered and racialized nature. Reclaiming art-making practices associated with femininity and craft, she transforms pantyhose, uniforms, prison sheets, and more into thought-provoking forms that raise questions of eroticism and violence from her perspective of a Black woman and mother. Magadlela studied at the University of Johannesburg and Rijksakademie, Amsterdam, received the FNB Art Prize in 2015, was included in the 2016 Armory Show, and exhibited worldwide.

About the Curator
Charles Moore is a New York-based art historian, author, and curator investigating abstraction, color theory, and social justice issues. He regularly contributes to notable publications, including Juxtapoz, CULTURED, Artsy, Brooklyn Rail, and Fine Art Connoisseur, and has published three books. His work has been translated into 11 languages.

Exhibition Dates
August 3, 2023 - September 4, 2023

Triangle Loft
675 Hudson St., Flr.5
New York, NY 10014
https://triangleloft.com

Communications
Charles Moore
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