The event is part of the public program of the U.S. Pavilion at the Biennale Arte 2024 and will consider the interdisciplinary and transnational themes of Jeffrey Gibson’s the space in which to place me. After a panel in which the curators of the pavilion will discuss with the artist some central issues in his work, focusing on how Indigenous aesthetics, futurity, and arts intersect with global practices and modernism, there will be a performance by Melbourne-based instrumental doom metal band Divide and Dissolve.
Program:
2pm Welcome and opening remarks
Christian Ayne Crouch (Bard College)
Cristina Baldacci (DFBC and NICHE, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice)
3-4.30pm Panel of the US Pavilion
Abigail Winograd, curator
Kathleen Ash-Milby, curator
Jeffrey Gibson, artist
moderated by Christian Ayne Crouch
4.30-5pm break
5-6pm Performance
Divide and Dissolve
introduced by Franca Tamisari (DSU and NICHE, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice)
Jeffrey Gibson (Colorado, 1972) Choctaw-Cherokee heritage and experience of living in Europe, Asia and the USA with references that span club culture, queer theory, fashion, politics, literature and art history. The artist’s multi-faceted practice incorporates painting, performance, sculpture, textiles and video, characterised by vibrant colour and pattern.
Divide and Dissolve is the Melbourne-based instrumental doom metal band of soprano saxophonist and guitarist Takiaya Reed (Black//Cherokee). Divide and Dissolve are committed to creating music that “honouring ancestors and Indigenous land, to oppose white supremacy, and to work towards a future of Indigenous sovereignty and Black liberation”. Divide and Dissolve’s album Systemic (2023), produced by Ruban Nielson, followed their atmospheric debut album Gas Lit (2021), distributed by the Invada label. Divide and Dissolve have recently supported Chelsea Wolfe on her North American tour with critical acclaim. With the band’s tectonic sound, Takiaya has created original film scores and experimental classical solo performances.
