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| Andrea Ray's
Désire is on exhibit in the Center for the Arts' Zilkha Gallery. The
dinner table is embedded with speakers, playing a dinner conversation. |
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| Posted 05.15.08 |
Exhibit on the Past Poses Questions about the Present
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May 2 marks the 40th anniversary of a student strike in France that led to a
shift to the eventual the end of the De Gaullle government in France.
This historic event is the topic of a new exhibition in Wesleyan’s Ezra and
Cecile Zilkha Gallery. Titled Désire by Andrea Ray, the three-part
installation revisits May 1968 to pose a question about the present: Could
the Paris model of social and political agency be employed in The United
States at a time when deepening crisis is coupled with fear and apathy?
“At Wesleyan, we are acknowledging this important anniversary in the form of
a fascinating installation by a young artist who raised interesting
questions about then and now,” says Nina Felshin, curator of exhibitions and
adjunct lecturer in art history.
Désire reflects on this against a backdrop of French writer and
activist Marguerite Duras' plays and the dinners she often hosted.
The three components of Désire include “Occupied,” a series of
soft-focus photographs of now empty intersections of Paris streets once
blocked by students; “The Gift,” a sculptural installation consisting of a
dinner table, embedded with speakers, chairs and a "conceptual soup"; and
“Rehearse,” a theatrical space with an audio component of an abortive
rehearsal of a play based on Duras' Hiroshima Mon Amour.
“Together the three pieces reflect a repetitive search for things seemingly
unattainable--a complete understanding of war, an experience of productive
social change through protest, and an association with an effective
community,” Felshin says.
Felshin and Ashley Casale ’10, a student who completed a 3,000-mile March
for Peace across America in 2007, will speak at a WESeminar on Andrea Ray at
3:30 p.m. May 24 in the Zilkha Gallery.
A Hartford Courant article on Désire is online at
http://www.courant.com/entertainment/museums/galleries/hc-dinnerexhibit0510.artmay10,0,964848.story. |
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