Bringing together works in installation, video, photography, painting, sculpture, and performance, Breaking Water is a group exhibition that offers a range of approaches to the subject of water, liquidity, and feminism. The exhibition will debut four new commissions by Paul Maheke, Josèfa Ntjam, Claudia Peña Salinas, and a collaborative work by Calista Lyon and Carmen Winant alongside new and existing work by an international group of artists whose work explores themes of fluidity, connectivity, and resistance, and addresses timely concerns including water rights, climate change, and the effects of natural disasters. The exhibition is co-curated by Amara Antilla and Clelia Coussonnet.
Breaking Water
Cecilia Bengolea, Mosquito Net, 2019/22. Vinyl mounted wood, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Andréhn- Schiptjenko, Stockholm/Paris. Photo: Wes Battoclette.
Jes Fan, Diagram VIII, 2020. Aqua resin, mica, glass and pigment, 14 x 22 x 5 inches. Private Collection, courtesy of the artist and Empty Gallery, Hong Kong. Photo: Pierre Le Hors.
Claudia Peña Salinas, Ohi:yó-cān, 2022. Brass, wood, acrylic, postcards, and river stones, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Embajada, San Juan. Photo: Wes Battoclette.
Cleo Fariselli, Untitled (Half Face), 2019. Raku ceramics, 10.4 x 5.5 x 7.5 inches. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Silvia Mangosio and Luca Vianello, 2019.
Jaana Laakkonen, t/hereouch (ouoùouille), 2020/22. Acrylic ink, acrylic paint, polyester, water, polyamide-elastane, cotton, jute, charcoal, plants, paper twine, linen MDF board, modeling paste, digital color prints, and more, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Wes Battoclette.
Marcos Ávila Forero, ATRATO, 2014. HD color video, with sound. 13 min., 52 sec.
Courtesy of the artist and ADN Galeria, Barcelona.
Installation view: Breaking Water, May 6 – August 14, 2022, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati. Photo: Wes Battoclette.
Paul Maheke, Seeking After the Fully Grown Dancer *deep within*, 2016-2018. Documentation of performance at Blackwood Gallery, Toronto. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Sultana, Paris. Photo: Henry Chan.
Calista Lyon (b. 1986, Nagambie, Australia; lives and works in Columbus, OH) and Carmen Winant, Breaking Water, 2022. Multi-channel color video installation, with sound. 11 min., 12 sec. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Wes Battoclette
Andrea Carlson, Crude Hands, 2016. Digital video, 1min, 36 sec. Courtesy of the artist and Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis.
Paul Maheke, Unresolved Shadows and Reflections, 2022. Installation and mixed media, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist, Galerie Sultana, Paris, and Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, Johannesburg, and London. Photo: Wes Battoclette.
“The Foundation’s commitment to supporting artists by funding the institutions that incubate, encourage, exhibit and critically engage their work is unwavering. Non-profit arts organizations face profound challenges due to the political, economic, social and cultural upheavals of our current moment. At the same time, and more than ever, artists need the supportive community and creative encouragement that these organizations provide.”
Joel Wachs, President