White Columns Online #10:

Wise Child

curated by Zhoe Granger

 

November 14, 2019–January 11, 2020 Online
Various bottles and jars with handwritten labels on blue tape, filled with organic materials and liquids and arranged on the stairs of a fire escape.

An Hu
untitled installation (cuvée iris and sisters photographed for White Columns Registry), 2019.
Plants, dirt, botanicals, neutral alcohol, wine, glass, aluminum, cork
Installation varies
Courtesy of the artist.

An assemblage constructed from various organic and inorganic materials, resembling a crucifix with a small animal-like figure stretched over a wire armature in the center.

Tau Lewis
Three angels waiting, 2018.
Concrete, rebar, concrete mesh, hand sewn furs, leathers and fabrics, cotton batting, stones, pipes, driftwood, dried flowers, hardware
76 × 38 × 24 in.
Courtesy of the artist and COOPER COLE, Toronto.

A textile diptych, hand painted and drawn on to resemble yearbook pages. The top piece contains the text “Out of School’s Life,” and the bottom “Inter Life’s School.”

Susan L Berger
Two Pages Before My Yearbook Entry (Boys and Girls), 2017.
Fiber/Mixed Media with leather like binding of a yearbook
Each panel is 40 × 30 × 2 in.
Courtesy of the artist.

A rough line drawing depicting the loose outline of a reclining figure with arms outstretched, holding a smaller figure that seems to hover above it.

Che Easson
Some Float, 2019.
Graphite on paper
9 × 12 in.
Courtesy of the artist.

A piece divided into three horizontal sections, each containing an image of creased brown fabric. White finger-painted streaks are overlaid, and a section of blue fringe is affixed.

Gail Stoicheff
Delphi_cave_midnight, 2019.
Oil and fringe on canvas
57 × 32 in.
Courtesy of the artist and AF Projects.

A sculpture of an ancient horn instrument with a cleft mouthpiece. The mouthpiece and interior portion are a glossy black, while the body is decorated with dark lines.

Catherine Cullen
Horn with Mouth, 2018.
Glazed ceramic
6.125 × 14.5 × 6.25 in.
Courtesy of the artist.

A sculpture of an amorphous, organic form made of black plastic bags and bubble wrap and bound with red plastic tape. The piece also incorporates wooden elements.

Frederick Hayes
Welcome, 2019.
Plastic, wood, glass bottles, tape, stuff animal, zip-ties, paper, bubble wrap, tin cans, epoxy resin
31.5 × 23 × 15 in.
Courtesy of the artist.

Eleven icicle-shaped pieces of glass are hung side-by-side with wire from a red, horizontally draped rope.

Kate Newby
Forceful, moving, and huge. But it was also funny., 2017.
Glass, hand dyed rope, wire
Dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist and COOPER COLE, Toronto.

Video still: A tiny figurine of a person wearing a suit and tie and standing against a muted cream background is swarmed by ants.

Fadi al-Hamwi
Artificial Sugar
HD Video
Duration: 2 mins 4 sec
Courtesy of the artist.

Video still: A swarm of ants drag a tiny, toppled figurine of a person wearing a suit and tie off to the right of the frame.

Fadi al-Hamwi
Artificial Sugar
HD Video
Duration: 2 mins 4 sec
Courtesy of the artist.

Participating Artists

Susan L Berger
Catherine Cullen
Che Easson
Frederick Hayes
An Hu
Tau Lewis
Kate Newby
Gail Stoicheff

Video Works

Fadi al-Hamwi
Artificial Sugar
HD Video
Duration: 2 mins 4 sec
Courtesy of the artist.

Exhibition Description

“The drama of Western society is just this: not having anything to do. The search for something to do strikes a note of desperation. The longing for heroism causes men to set up their own monsters, as with the stream of men circumnavigating the world; it is no longer part of a struggle for survival, though it does perhaps indicate curiosity about how the mind responds to stress.

But are all outward journeys really about the adventure within? Is our problem not that there is less to do, but that we have collectively lost our way in mid-journey – a Ulysses who has mislaid Ithaca, a Dante who does not meet Beatrice”

– Monica Furlong, Traveling In (1971)

Monica Furlong states on the inside cover of Traveling In – part diary, part rambling LSD trip, “the religious man is the one who believes that life is about making some kind of journey”.  Throughout Traveling In Furlong explores how a (widely) varying spectrum of Poets, Artists and Philosophers have metaphysically asked, “what is the journey and where does it take us”.

Transformation is an overarching theme throughout Furlongs’ oeuvre. Her biographies include the medieval Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and the 60’s counter culture revolutionary Alan Watts. Her book Visions & Longings: Medieval Women Mystics revolts against a biblical legacy on women. Later in Furlongs life she wrote the Wise Child trilogy – a fantasy world set in medieval Scotland. Not only does transformation take place within her books through subject matter, but on a wider level, the reader feels part of her internal transformation.

What stood out about each of the selected artworks chosen for this project was a resonance with Furlongs’ thoughts on exploring a more spiritual level of consciousness. Each work feels like an inquiry or a break “mid-journey”, not a neatly completed thesis. What I love so much about each work is the courage to Travel Inwards when most of us are constantly trying to distract ourselves with stuff, the consumerist journey through activity.

The clarity of seeing an artwork through an artists mind is an honor, we are given permission to look into their guts mid-journey. What a terrifyingly vulnerable position to be in. Will Beatrice show up, will Ulysses find Ithaca?

Zhoe Granger is a writer and curator based in New York.

This exhibition is the tenth in a series of online exhibitions curated exclusively from White Columns’ Curated Artist Registry.

For more information: registry.whitecolumns.org

Various bottles and jars with handwritten labels on blue tape, filled with organic materials and liquids and arranged on the stairs of a fire escape.
An assemblage constructed from various organic and inorganic materials, resembling a crucifix with a small animal-like figure stretched over a wire armature in the center.
A textile diptych, hand painted and drawn on to resemble yearbook pages. The top piece contains the text “Out of School’s Life,” and the bottom “Inter Life’s School.”
A rough line drawing depicting the loose outline of a reclining figure with arms outstretched, holding a smaller figure that seems to hover above it.
A piece divided into three horizontal sections, each containing an image of creased brown fabric. White finger-painted streaks are overlaid, and a section of blue fringe is affixed.
A sculpture of an ancient horn instrument with a cleft mouthpiece. The mouthpiece and interior portion are a glossy black, while the body is decorated with dark lines.
A sculpture of an amorphous, organic form made of black plastic bags and bubble wrap and bound with red plastic tape. The piece also incorporates wooden elements.
Eleven icicle-shaped pieces of glass are hung side-by-side with wire from a red, horizontally draped rope.
Video still: A tiny figurine of a person wearing a suit and tie and standing against a muted cream background is swarmed by ants.
Video still: A swarm of ants drag a tiny, toppled figurine of a person wearing a suit and tie off to the right of the frame.

An Hu
untitled installation (cuvée iris and sisters photographed for White Columns Registry), 2019.
Plants, dirt, botanicals, neutral alcohol, wine, glass, aluminum, cork
Installation varies
Courtesy of the artist. (Various bottles and jars with handwritten labels on blue tape, filled with organic materials and liquids and arranged on the stairs of a fire escape.)

Tau Lewis
Three angels waiting, 2018.
Concrete, rebar, concrete mesh, hand sewn furs, leathers and fabrics, cotton batting, stones, pipes, driftwood, dried flowers, hardware
76 × 38 × 24 in.
Courtesy of the artist and COOPER COLE, Toronto. (An assemblage constructed from various organic and inorganic materials, resembling a crucifix with a small animal-like figure stretched over a wire armature in the center.)

Susan L Berger
Two Pages Before My Yearbook Entry (Boys and Girls), 2017.
Fiber/Mixed Media with leather like binding of a yearbook
Each panel is 40 × 30 × 2 in.
Courtesy of the artist. (A textile diptych, hand painted and drawn on to resemble yearbook pages. The top piece contains the text “Out of School’s Life,” and the bottom “Inter Life’s School.”)

Che Easson
Some Float, 2019.
Graphite on paper
9 × 12 in.
Courtesy of the artist. (A rough line drawing depicting the loose outline of a reclining figure with arms outstretched, holding a smaller figure that seems to hover above it.)

Gail Stoicheff
Delphi_cave_midnight, 2019.
Oil and fringe on canvas
57 × 32 in.
Courtesy of the artist and AF Projects. (A piece divided into three horizontal sections, each containing an image of creased brown fabric. White finger-painted streaks are overlaid, and a section of blue fringe is affixed.)

Catherine Cullen
Horn with Mouth, 2018.
Glazed ceramic
6.125 × 14.5 × 6.25 in.
Courtesy of the artist. (A sculpture of an ancient horn instrument with a cleft mouthpiece. The mouthpiece and interior portion are a glossy black, while the body is decorated with dark lines.)

Frederick Hayes
Welcome, 2019.
Plastic, wood, glass bottles, tape, stuff animal, zip-ties, paper, bubble wrap, tin cans, epoxy resin
31.5 × 23 × 15 in.
Courtesy of the artist. (A sculpture of an amorphous, organic form made of black plastic bags and bubble wrap and bound with red plastic tape. The piece also incorporates wooden elements.)

Kate Newby
Forceful, moving, and huge. But it was also funny., 2017.
Glass, hand dyed rope, wire
Dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist and COOPER COLE, Toronto. (Eleven icicle-shaped pieces of glass are hung side-by-side with wire from a red, horizontally draped rope.)

Fadi al-Hamwi
Artificial Sugar
HD Video
Duration: 2 mins 4 sec
Courtesy of the artist. (Video still: A tiny figurine of a person wearing a suit and tie and standing against a muted cream background is swarmed by ants.)

Fadi al-Hamwi
Artificial Sugar
HD Video
Duration: 2 mins 4 sec
Courtesy of the artist. (Video still: A swarm of ants drag a tiny, toppled figurine of a person wearing a suit and tie off to the right of the frame.)