Adriana Varejão, Kindred Spirits, Installation view, Lehmann Maupin, 201 Chrystie Street, New York; April 21-June 19, 2016
Photo: Elisabeth Bernstein
In searching for imagery of Native American face painting, Varejão was lead to the work of 19th century portraiture artists such as George Catlin, Charles Bird King, and Henry Inman, as well as the photographer and ethnologist Edwards Curtis, who captured their subjects in full ceremonial dress. Inman who never met a Native American, but copied the portraits painted by King, is widely referenced in the Kindred Spirits series.* The portraits of Varejão present the artist in identical three-quarter profile view. Each repeated image is distinguished by ornate tribal markings, indigenous headdress, and references to artists from Minimalists such as Sol Lewitt and Agnes Martin to contemporary artists including Paul Thek and Llyn Foulkes. Varejão was inspired by a 2012 book, also titled Kindred Spirits, which elaborates on the connections between Native American visual culture and the work of modern and contemporary artists. The artworks highlight the amalgamation of cultural identities that began with colonialism and continues through modern globalization.
The Mimbres series elaborates on a touchstone of Varejão's practice: azulejões, paintings influenced by the hand-painted ceramic tiles dating to the 17th and 18th century that were brought to Brazil from Portugal, as well as 11th century cracked Song Dynasty pottery from China. Pedro Alonzo, curator of Varejão's exhibition at the Dallas Contemporary, further describes the significance of the Mimbres culture's pottery within the context of Varejão's azulejões:
In the 1990s, Varejão began a series of crackled paintings based on 11th century Song Dynasty pottery from China. These monochromatic works featured the celadon colors — light green to light blue — emblematic of Chinese pottery. Resembling parched earth, the characteristic cracks were the product of aesthetic experimentation by Chinese master ceramicists who intentionally fired the pottery to the point of distress, resulting in the highly valued accidental cracks running through the pottery. Varejão's new body of monochromatic, crackled works is inspired by 11th century Mimbres pottery from what is now the southwestern United States. Mimbres pottery is highly prized because of the sophisticated designs and figuration depicting daily life in the region. In Mimbres culture, the pottery was broken as part of an early burial rite and interred with the dead. It is thought that the pottery was broken to release the spirit of the vessel. The new crackled paintings feature earthy colors associated with Mimbres culture and the Southwest. The edges of Varejão's canvases are adorned with Mimbres pottery designs composed of wavy lines forming scrolls, straight unbounded lines, and hachures.
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