In English, with consecutive translation
Foyer 2, Mattatoio, La Pelanda
In Candice Breitz’s Whiteface, viewers encounter whiteness in its own words. The work reveals several questions about the nature of whiteness as a structure of power, its strategies of obfuscation and, ultimately, survival. In this artist talk, the artist and the curators delve into the making-of, and the stylistic devices in Whiteface to gain an understanding of contemporary manifestations of whiteness. The conversation will focus on the articulations of whiteness in various forms of media as specific, global arenas for the dissemination and normalization of supremacist ideas and ideologies, and how they can be critiqued and challenged in concrete terms.
Candice Breitz (b. 1972 in Johannesburg) is an artist whose moving-image installations have been shown internationally. Throughout Breitz’s career, she has explored the dynamics through which individuals become themselves in relation to a larger community, be that the immediate community that one encounters in family, or the real and imagined communities that are shaped not only by questions of national belonging, race, gender, and religion, but also by the increasingly undeniable influence of mainstream media such as television, cinema and other popular culture. Most recently, Breitz’s work has focused on the conditions under which empathy is produced, reflecting on a media-saturated global culture in which strong identification with fictional characters and celebrity figures runs parallel to widespread indifference to the plight of those facing real world adversity. In 2022, she completed The White Noise Trilogy, a trio of multichannel video installations that includes Love Story (2016), TLDR (2017), and Whiteface (2022). Breitz holds degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg), the University of Chicago and Columbia University (NYC). She has participated in the Whitney Museum’s Independent Studio Program and led the Palais de Tokyo’s ‘Le Pavillon’ residency as a visiting artist during the years 2005-2006. She has been a professor at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Braunschweig (Braunschweig University of Art) since 2007. Breitz lives and works in Berlin.
Johanne Affricot is an artistic director, curator and cultural producer. She is particularly invested in creating creative spaces as re-generative devices to collectively cultivate and disseminate strategies and practices of radical imagination that have a strong cultural and social impact. She is currently Curator-at-Large at the American Academy in Rome and is the artistic director of SPAZIO GRIOT and GRIOTmag. Her recent projects include the solo exhibitions Studio 1. I Miss you So Much (2023), Il Mio Filippino: For Those Who Care To See (2023); the artistic programming Refractions (2023) and the group show and public programme Sediments. After Memory (2022).
Eric Otieno Sumba is a writer and editor with a background in social theory, political economy, postcolonial studies, and art criticism. His writing has been published in Contemporary &, Africa Is a Country, Lolwe, The Guardian, Griotmag, Frieze, Sleek, Nataal, Monopol, Texte zur Kunst, and Camera Austria, among others. He is currently an editor for publication practices at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin. He previously curated Sediments:After Memory (2022) and Refractions (2023).
Admission free while places last.
