Swoon Brings Juarez to Chelsea
Honeyspace is an oasis of fresh thinking about art and its presentation — it is closer to the process of making it than to the process of selling it — despite its location in the midst of Chelsea’s booming commercial galleries.
This is largely because the space is run not by a dealer, but by an artist: the sculptor Thomas Beale. The gallery is unmarked, no one is guarding the space, it has no sleek white walls and no commercial purpose. The building owner donated studio space to Beale and supported his radical idea to open an unmonitored gallery. Since it first opened in February of this year, Honeyspace has gained a lot of attention for its provocative ideas and shows.
Honeyspace’s fourth show is called Portrait of Silvia Elena, a memorial to 17-year-old Silvia Elena Rivera Morales who was killed in 1995 — one of the first victims of the unsolved femicides taking place in Juarez, Mexico over the past 10 years.
About this Video
We filmed this interview using the Panasonic AG-HSC1 high definition camera.
The installation is a collaborative project by Swoon, a New York artist, famous for placing her wheatpaste cutouts on the streets of New York as well as showing them at MoMA, Brooklyn Museum and Deitch Projects, and Tennessee Jane Watson, a documentarian and social activist.
Most visitors stumble upon the unmarked gallery, where a small framed note on the wall invites them into the raw basement to see the piece. Shabby stairs lead viewers underground and one cannot help but be submerged in the somber mood of the installation. Such a departure from a safe guarded gallery in the rest of Chelsea drastically changes the usual gallery experience. The installation includes sound recordings by Watson, shrine elements and an intricate cut out portrait of Silvia Elena by Swoon.
The only explanation of the piece is in the corner of Honeyspace’s street level. The shrine on the table is made out of flowers, candles lighting the posters of the disappeared women, photographs of the commemorative pink crosses spread along the roads of Juarez and snapshots of the girls among their friends and family before their tragic disappearances.
To date, over 500 women and girls have been confirmed killed in Juarez, and more an 1000 have disappeared. Most of the victims are young, poor, and have been sexually assaulted prior to their deaths. The local police has been extremely ineffective in solving the 10 year old terror.
Earlier this year, during the trip to Juarez, Swoon and Watson met Silvia Elena’s mother Ramona Morales. They recorded Ramona’s recount of Silvia’s disappearance, traveled together to Silvia’s grave and brought back photographs of Silvia.
By inviting us to mourn together with them, Swoon and Watson bring emotion into the cold news stories we read and hear everyday of events taking place in Mexico, a place so far away, yet so close.
MORE SMAC:
on GREENPIX Zero Energy Media Wall in Beijing
on HOME DELIVERY SHOW AT MoMA
on LOUISE BOURGEOISE
on OS GEMEOS
on CAI GUO-QIANG
on ART BASEL MIAMI 2008
Alexandra Lerman is ScribeMedia.Org's Arts and Culture editor. She is also a video artist, VJ and the founder of the Ambitious Outsiders Collective.
SOON dearest… I saw your work grow steadily in the walls of new york… that wrinkled old man whose body became the city grid in some doorway brought a special warmth to my heart… and so many other presents you left around, in chinatown, soho, red-hook, the gowanus, bedstuy, all over. it makes me happy that you don’t stop. you are you and you are your surroundings in a way that few people can be. do the street. do the gallery. do the cellars. do the borders. Sasha lovely video thanks for sharing………. fran.b.
s w o o n . . .
[…] ScribeMedia - Swoon Brings Juarez to Chelsea A video of Swoon discussing her installation up in Chelsea…which you need to check out…though I’m getting tired of artist videos in general…rare is the visual artist good with words (tags: art nyc) […]
You need to be more clear as to what is happening in Mexico. This piece failed to elaborate on what the art is about, skimming along the surface of it, talking about artist history and gallery space…but very little deep dive into content. Ideas are as important as information, if not more so.
Over 12 years ago, Charles Bowden wrote a harrowing piece in Harper’s called “While You Were Sleeping.”
It’s an important starting point for understanding this work, and what has been happening down on the US-Mexico border.
It can also be found here.
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Swoon,
I love your piece in San Francisco on 24 th and Hampshire. I work at the mural art Center (Precita Eyes) and I send all the tourist down to see your Fabulous piece.
Mucas Gracias
Cindy De Losa
Swoon I love your piece in San Francisco on 24th st.
I work at Precita eyes Mural art center and send all the tourist to see your art.
Muchas Gracias
Cindy De Losa
[…] SMAC: on OS GEMEOS on SWOON on CAI GUO-QIANG on ART BASEL MIAMI 2008 Bookmark and Share These icons link to social […]