The complex relationship between contemporary art and anthropology shapes the subject of The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, an eleven-artist exhibition at the Contemporary Austin. As fields of study, art and anthropology have many similarities, such as a curiosity about culture, an impulse to collect, and a reflection of the human condition. This group exhibition, featuring the work of Ed Atkins, Nuotama Bodomo, Theo Eshetu, Cameron Jamie, Kapwani Kiwanga, Marie Lorenz, Nathan Mabry, Ruben Ochoa, Dario Robleto, Shimabuku, and Julia Wachtel, steers away from scientific observations about cultures and the work of artists already well associated with this terrain, however, instead offering a fresh perspective through artwork that is experimental, exploratory, and reflective of the present day. Representing a wide range of media including painting, sculpture, photography, video, and performance, the artworks in The Sorcerer’s Burden share a commonality not only in their allusions to elements of anthropology, but in their exploration of the interplay between fact and fiction, ultimately questioning whether any field, media, or genre might propose to convey “truth.”
The Sorcerer’s Burden
Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The
Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by
Colin Doyle.
Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The
Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by
Colin Doyle.
Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The
Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by
Colin Doyle.
Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The
Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by
Colin Doyle.
Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The
Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by
Colin Doyle.
Dario Robleto, The First Time, the Heart (A Portrait of Life 1854–1913), 2017–2018. Selection from a portfolio of fifty prints on Rising Drawing Bristol; photolithographs with transparent base ink, hand-flamed and sooted paper; image brushed with lithotine and lifted from soot, fused in a mild shellac and denatured alcohol. Each 11 1/2 x 14 1/4 inches. Edition 1 of 6. Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Artwork © Dario Robleto. Courtesy the artist and Inman Gallery, Houston. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by Colin Doyle.
Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by Colin Doyle.
Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by Colin Doyle.
Dario Robleto, The Boundary of Life Is Quietly Crossed, 2019. Two-channel HD video, color, sound installation. Running time: 51:00, looped. Commissioned by The Contemporary Austin. Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Artwork © Dario Robleto. Courtesy the artist and Inman Gallery, Houston. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by Colin Doyle.
Dario Robleto, The Boundary of Life Is Quietly Crossed, 2019. Two-channel HD video, color, sound installation. Running time: 51:00, looped. Commissioned by The Contemporary Austin. Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Artwork © Dario Robleto. Courtesy the artist and Inman Gallery, Houston. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by Colin Doyle.
Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Artwork © Ruben Ochoa. Courtesy the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by Colin Doyle.
Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Artwork © Ruben Ochoa. Courtesy the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by Colin Doyle.
Ed Atkins, Material Witness OR A Liquid Cop, 2012. Single-channel HD video, color, stereo sound. Running time: 19:17, looped. Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Artwork © Ed Atkins. Courtesy the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York/Rome. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by Colin Doyle.
Nuotama Bodomo, Boneshaker, 2013. Single-channel HD video, color, sound; converted from Super 16 mm. Running time: 13:00. Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Artwork © Nuotama Bodomo. Courtesy the artist. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by Colin Doyle.
Nuotama Bodomo, Afronauts, 2014. Single-channel HD video, black and white, sound. Running time: 14:00. Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Artwork © Nuotama Bodomo. Courtesy the artist. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by Colin Doyle.
Theo Eshetu, Adieu Les Demoiselles, 2019. Single-channel HD video, color, sound. Running time: 8:45, looped. Commissioned by The Contemporary Austin. Installation view, The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn, The Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas, 2019. Artwork © Theo Eshetu. Courtesy the artist and Axis Gallery, New York. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photograph by Colin Doyle.
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The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant is launched as part of an arts writing initiative designed to support independent, progressive arts publications and individual arts writers.