After almost a solid week of art fairs, I’m still thinking about what I saw and a few of the videos at Moving Image that were really well curated. The image above, a still from Licorne by Maider Fortune, I like for one obvious reason: UNICORN! Other then that I was completely moved by Hannah Wilke: Intercourse with……, 1978 followed by Shana Moutan’s The Galactic Pot Healer, 2010.


Anyone who is familiar with Hannah Wilke knows that she made strides early on using her body to make a statement on beauty even until the very end documenting herself as she passed away from Cancer in 1993. In this particular piece, the artist laments, listening to played back voicemail messages from family members and ex-lovers. She then slowly disrobes revealing the names of ex-lovers written on her body. Donald, Carter, Eddie, etc all reminders of love lost, melancholic and slow moving.


Beautifully juxtaposed (kudos to the curator for this installational choice!) The Galactic Healing Pot by Shana Moulton, follows the journey of a woman who is self-medicating and obviously a bit down on her luck but in a somewhat magical environment. Sadly, she accidentally breaks a clay pot and then learns of a healer. He says he’s unable to fix her pot but can give her a massage which she eagerly accepts.


During the massage, which is obviously quite rigorous, the healer is able to mold a pot, constructed by her own body matter. Its a mystical moment and after a quick stint in the microwave, the pot is transformed and fired, returned to its original form.


The Galactic Healing Pot and Intercourse With….. both deal with loss, loneliness and the act of preserving the self. I loved both but after being brought to tears during Hannah Wilke’s piece, it helped to be catapulted into the present and reminded that beyond the act of medicating, sometimes a simple band-aid can heal a broken heart….or in this case, a pot.

Moving Image, co-founded by Edward Winkleman was a refreshing new addition to the NY art fairs this year.

Hannah Wilke was presented by Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York.
Shana Moulton is represented by Galerie Gregor Staiger, Zurich, Switerland.

More soon.
xo

— Posted from my iPhone
Http://www.katyhamer.com

Hanna