~OLIVIA SWIDER & DALIA AMARA . . ‘THE TEXTURE OF WANT’ / MOUNTAIN GALLERY / PHOTOS
I got to visit OLIVIA SWIDER at the 2 person show, just before it came down.
‘THE TEXTURE OF WANT’ – OLIVIA SWIDER & DALIA AMARA
FEB 24 – MARCH 17, 2018
MOUNTAIN, 284 SEIGEL ST, 1B. BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN 11206
the show’s postcard
Image: Olivia Swider, 2018
OLIVIA SWIDER, Mountain Gallery . . Sat, March 3, 2018
Ms. Swider also co-founded, & now solely runs SELENA, also a Living Room / apt gallery . . . in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
left: DALIA AMARA, ‘Touching a Cactus’, 2014.
Archival pigment print. 14 x 21.5 in.
right: OLIVIA SWIDER, ‘Muy Picante’, 2018
Lace, felt, rosary, wire, spray. 5.5 x 17 in.
while both artist’s works are ‘wanting’ to express desire, need, & need-to-understand (!!), self-identity and, ultimately, longing . . . their approach could not be more different. Dalia is about the ‘narrative’ of longing, and is on an . . inner search. contemplation. observation. thought. process. all done with a well-tempered ‘coolness’, even distance. Olivia on the other hand, is all about screaming out, tearing to shreds, and intense, hands-on expressionism.
Dalia’s work centers around her ‘self’ / through many self-portraits, as well as the formal distance of recording .. of herself, & inanimate objects / in very patient, realistic ways & settings.
Olivia’s work is self-portraiture . . through created, and often explosive ‘fictional’ narratives. both artists express . . ‘I want’ / not only as ‘desire’, or a ‘longing’ for self-knowledge, but also, as a verb . . as in a ‘demand’. an ambition, as in: I want . . ‘to be heard’, ‘to be understood’, ‘to be felt’ !!
OLIVIA SWIDER, ‘Muy Picante’, 2018
lace, felt, rosary, wire spray. 5.5 x 17 in.
talk about . . ‘I Want’.
as in ‘I demand’ !! to be heard, and understood / my fave piece in the show.
it looked more like a snake’s giant ‘fang’, than an embroidery sentiment. more of a demand, than a . . ‘wish’. it also spoke to Olivia’s cultural mash-up of a DNA background / Polish (the stern cross), and Mexican (the vibrant red lace, the seashell chain) / composed on a very contemporary, ‘shaped’ ‘platform’, 3D.
it was like an arrow, though being in the rough shape of a hot pepper, probably a better metaphor might be – a kind of ‘stake’ . . to the heart of the matter of things.
‘things’ . . being ‘things – in motion. creative, & emotional momentum !!
nothing is standing still, here.
detail, ‘Muy Picante’.
Olivia told me the rosary had been her grandmother’s.
I liked how it referenced the ‘texture’ in the title. plush carpet, silvery, thin metallic snaking chain, more solid souvenir trophy, & the abrupt, plastic pink, of the shiny, retro, vinyl rosary ‘envelope’.
OLIVIA SWIDER, ‘My Rosary’, 2018. another fave.
Rosary, vinyl, plastic, spray on rug. 11 x 17 in.
this one was more subdued, more sentimental. more story-telling.
more . . I was a young femme teenager once, filled with . . longing / the very definition of: want.
I liked how it referenced the ‘texture’ in the title. plush carpet, silvery, thin metallic snaking chain, more solid miniature souvenir trophy, & the abrupt, plastic pink, of the shiny, retro vinyl rosary ‘envelope’.
it had a longing, and a delicacy – that could not be denied.
two gallerist/curator/artists: OLIVIA SWIDER and MICHAEL FLEMING.
throwing some luck-of-the-Irish, in . . with the big drama of the Polish and Mexican !!
Michael Flemming runs his gallery space in his Bushwick, ground floor apartment living room. so it’s quite deliberate, both casual and intense / aspiring, and intimate.
yes. real people live here. art ultimately belongs in homes.
though this might be the last show for Mountain, in this space – word is . . Mountain and Selena are combining forces, and looking for a bigger . . living room !!
those are DALIA AMARA’s works on the wall.
top: ‘Rose with hair extension’, 2017.
archival pigment print. 14 x 2.5 in.
lower: ‘Simulation’, 2017.
Full HD Video.
DALIA AMARA, ‘Simulation’, 2017.
video focused on her ‘self’ . . in physical space / and, stance.
there’s a sense of curiosity, and poise.
running in a ‘window box format’, these ‘projections’ . . were inward-focused.
Olivia, meanwhile is never . . in the box !!
quite the contrast.
case in point:
OLIVIA SWIDER, ‘Party Frog’, 2018.
ceramic, el yucateco hot sauce, ceramic plate. 5 in. tall.
it’s like one is a ‘science’, (Dalia), and the other is a ‘science experiment’ (Olivia).
or: the full range of: want !!
DALIA AMARA, ‘Posing’, 2017.
Full HD Video.
the title says it all / looking into the mirror.
realism & questioning. finding, and . . wanting to understand, more ?
DALIA AMARA, ‘Posing’, black & white.
DALIA AMARA, ‘Posing’ . . black leotard, glass, and mirrors. steel.
& meaning – their textures, not just their colors. but, their surfaces. almost non-textures. hard, pristine, definitely narrative, realist shiny, reflective surfaces.
OLIVIA SWIDER, ‘Hello Liar’, 2017.
Bleach, tajin, sand, acrylic on hand towel. 16 x 26 in.
hello: YIN, yang !!
Dalia and Olivia.
polar opposites of expression, steel vs thick textile.
in both concept & literal texture / precise observation vs sandy, screaming !!
grace . . vs ripping to shreds, lol.
differences of texture – make the world go round.
yet, it’s still: always . . endless wanting, between the both of them.
I want you to look = at this. see me in my projection – Dalia.
see me in my acting out . . Olivia.
crusty. fried. angry. sad.
you were NOT, what I wanted !! LIAR !!
Lena Dunham: this towel has your name on it.
my heart is out there / and, I’m so . . over you.
‘The Texture of Want’ / is the Theory of Want . . . in 360 degrees.
from the precise, optical autobiography of the unblinking camera lens / to the shredded, crying, ripped-up towel of . . dude, it’s ‘over’.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH