Chelsea Manning’s DNA, Candy-Colored Churches, and More Art … – Bedford + Bowery

(image via Fridman Gallery / Facebook)

A Becoming ResemblanceOpening Wednesday, August 2 at Fridman Gallery, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through September 5.

Its hard to ignore Chelsea Manning lately. And rightfully so: Against all odds, her newly liberatedpresence, both on Twitter and IRL, remains one of the most fiercely optimistic in a pool of (justifiably) jaded folk. Ironic memes have no match for colorful emojis, it seems. But this Wednesday, Manning can be found in an art gallery, and her presence manifests in more ways than just the literal.

A Becoming Resemblance is a collaborative venture between Manning and interdisciplinary artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg, using and exploring the technology of genomic identity construction. The show consists of 3D-printed portraits constructed in 2015 from pieces of DNA (hair, nail clippings) Chelsea sent her collaborator from prison. This gave the world a chance to once again put a human face to her identity, which had been shrouded by incarceration for years. The show will also include a graphic novel the duo made last year in collaboration with illustrator Shoili Kanungo depicting Chelseas sentence getting commuted by Obama and her being able to see her 3D portraits in person. What was initially drawn as hopeful fiction can now become reality.

(flyer via Erin Davis and Max C Lee)

Ride Collision: Voice-Haptic On-Road Patio For Liaison SessioningOpening Friday, August 4 at Invisible Exports, 6 pm to 10 pm. On view through August 26.

Though theyve been hard at work curating the Re: Art Show, which manifests in a different part of the vast and strange Pfizer Building in Bed-Stuy every month, Erin Davis and Max C Lee are still finding time to make work of their own. Aside from being quite a mouthful of a title, Ride Collision: Voice-Haptic On-Road Patio For Liaison Sessioning is the duos first solo show in New York.

The show is part of a larger series entitled Ride Collision, exploring the ways one can construct environments using discarded or repurposed found materials. These sculptural creations relate to cars and transportation and the culture and norms surrounding them. The show is also described as delving into how car crashes and other hazards can throw into turmoil the very rules and norms put in place to prevent them. Rocks made from painted styrofoam resemble asphalt, pieces of drywall are modified to resemble road barriers that brace for impact, and caution tape abounds.

Karin Ferrari, still from DECODING The Intros of ZiB (THE WHOLE TRUTH), 2016, digital video, 28:58 (via Tiger Strikes Asteroid)

Revealing Reflected RefractionsOpening Friday, August 4 at Tiger Strikes Asteroid New York, 6 pm to 9 pm. On view through September 10.

This week appears to be a week of long and/or sort of convoluted exhibition titles. For example, try saying this one five times fast. If youre in need of a nice vocal warm-up, it could be a useful one to tuck in your back pocket. If youre not interested in such folly, know that Revealing Reflected Refractions is also a group art exhibition.

The exhibition showcases four artists of differing backgrounds and practices. Video by Karin Ferrari combines the Austrian national news and the Illuminati, drawings from Hai-Hsin Huang depict a multicultural humanity, light sculptures by Alison Kudlow are both tangible and intangible, and site-specific by Nooshin Rostami makes the formality of a gallery space a little more uncertain. At Fridays opening reception, Rostami will also be performing.

(image via Knockdown Center)

The Clock Is Taking A NapOpening Sunday, August 6 at Knockdown Center, 5 pm to 7 pm. On view through November 5.

Using a color palette reminiscent of scoops of sherbet and making shapes that recall fruit, body parts, rainbows, and more, Amie Cunats mural for Knockdown Center breathes new life into New York City architecture. The mural takes inspiration from drawings of notable buildings like churches, layering each structure on so it recalls the squished reality of real estate in the city, but with an added dose of sugary surrealism. Every day the cityscape changes a little more, for better or for worse, and here you can see it from yet another perspective.

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Chelsea Manning's DNA, Candy-Colored Churches, and More Art ... - Bedford + Bowery