A Recollection. + Predicated. at The Kitchen

Part of Julius Eastman: That Which Is Fundamental →

PREDICATED. + A RECOLLECTION. An exhibition in two parts, curated by Tiona Nekkia McClodden.

A Recollection. and Predicated. feature archival traces and work by contemporary artists that engage with Julius Eastman and the fragmented nature of his legacy. A Recollection. approaches a historical exploration and remembrance of Julius Eastman as a master of artifice, while Predicated., an exhibition in conversation with the work of Julius Eastman, explores notions of absence, trace presence, duration, the politics of exhaustion, as well as the interplay between composition and improvisation through video, sculpture, and photography.

A RECOLLECTION.
Julius Eastman the trickster. Julius Eastman the brother. Julius Eastman the son. Julius Eastman the composer. Julius Eastman the provocateur. Julius Eastman the pianist. Julius Eastman the painter. Julius Eastman the dancer. Julius Eastman the vocalist. Julius Eastman the one who got away. Did Julius want us to have a hold on his life, or did he want the residue of his life and work to remain as cunning as he was?

A Recollection. approaches a historical exploration and remembrance of Julius Eastman as a master of artifice. The audio, artifacts, and ephemera in this exhibition examine the music, literature, and choreography of Eastman’s life through the people who knew him best. The archive of Eastman that emerges after his death is fractured, partially by his own hand. Julius Eastman concentrated on the present, with little regard to the past and especially not the future, and often treated his work as ephemeral. The artifacts of his life remain spread among friends, family, and lovers, resisting traditional forms of centralization under the roof of a single institution. Using this shape-shifting as a conceptual framework, A Recollection. maps archival matter as a way of inviting viewers to discover new pieces and forge relationships between ephemera held by different informal archivists.

PREDICATED.
Carolyn Lazard, Beau Rhee, James Maurelle, Sondra Perry, Wayson Jones, Ash Arder, Jonathan Gardenhire, Courtney Bryan, Texas Isaiah, Yulan Grant, Chloë Bass, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Raúl Romero and Shawné Michaelain Holloway

Predicated. explores notions of absence, trace presence, duration, and the politics of exhaustion, and examines the interplay between composition and improvisation through video, sculpture, and photography. It considers Eastman’s lived experience as an experimental artist during his time as a member of the Creative Associates, and while living in New York’s Lower East Side.

Exhibition dates: January 19 to February 10, 2018
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 11am to 6pm. Admission free.
Location: The Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, New York

Julius Eastman: That Which Is Fundamental was curated by Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Dustin Hurt, and presented by Bowerbird in collaboration with The Kitchen, in conjunction with the Eastman Estate.