Press Release


The San José Museum of Art, California (SJMA) is pleased to present its major spring exhibition, Rina Banerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World, the first mid-career retrospective on the contemporary practice of Rina Banerjee, co-organized with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia (PAFA).





























 




















 





























International exhibitions

International Archives 1st half of 2019


Rina Banerjee, Make Me a Summary of the World

San José Museum of Art (USA)

16.05 - 06.10.2019



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Rina Banerjee, Make Me a Summary of the World, San José Museum of Art

© ArtCatalyse International / Marika Prévosto 2019. All Rights Reserved

Earthbound showcases a selection of 14 works featuring Mendieta’s interest in the four elements: air, water, fire and earth. In the context of the sculpture collection of the Middelheim Museum, where both the artist and the visitor are always subjected to the elements, Mendieta’s artistic ideas resonate strongly with the recent developments in sculpture, installation and performance art. The project opens up perspectives on how we relate as human beings to our surrounding environment. Through a direct bodily connection with nature, Mendieta’s works seek both a means of individual self-representation and a connection to universal ancestral power.


The exhibition offers a plurality of voices in the museum, where Mendieta’s works will be shown alongside those of present-day artists. Mendieta’s work not only persistently tests the definition of contemporary sculpture but is also inspiring for the contemporary challenges of today’s society. The framework of Bruno Latour's recent publication Facing Gaia might offer an interesting perspective for exploring the exhibited works of Mendieta. By acknowledging that nature and its elements all have agency, the artist was able to think beyond the boundaries of religion, history and identity. Similar strategies are suggested thirty years later by Bruno Latour in his proposal for realising a new climatic regime and for changing our relationship to the earth.


It’s absolutely clear that Mendieta's artistic vision not only raises fundamental questions about normative social systems, but that it also represents a shift in perspective on recent sculpture traditions, from a vision determined by object oriented-sculpture, to one connected with land art and performance.


The exhibition is a collaboration with the Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection & Galerie Lelong & Co.


Curator: Pieter Boons



Exhibition May 16, October 6, 2019. San Jose Museum of Art, 110 South Market Street, San Jose, California 95113 (USA). T +1 408 271 6840. Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 11am–5pm.

















 







 











 





 



























 





 











Rina Banerjee, The world as burnt fruit—When empires feuded for populations and plantations, buried in colonial and ancient currency a Gharial appeared from an inky melon—hot with blossom sprang forth to swallow the world not yet whole as burnt fruit, 2009. Fans, feather, cowrie shells, resin alligator, skull, globe, glass vials, light bulbs, gourds, steel wire and Japanese mosquito nets, 90 x 253 x 90 inches. Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, India.

 


Rina Banerjee, The world as burnt fruit—When empires feuded for populations and plantations, buried in colonial and ancient currency a Gharial appeared from an inky melon—hot with blossom sprang forth to swallow the world not yet whole as burnt fruit, 2009. Fans, feather, cowrie shells, resin alligator, skull, globe, glass vials, light bulbs, gourds, steel wire and Japanese mosquito nets, 90 x 253 x 90 inches. Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, India.