“NOT IN MY NAME” is a group exhibition with contributions by the following artists who do not work alone and do not work with their own names: 0100101110101101.org (Eva & Franco Mattes), A Kassen, Arbit City, Bernadette Corporation, Los Carpinteros, Chim↑Pom from Smappa!Group, Chto Delat (What is to be done?), Cooltūristės, Grupo Etcétera, Leo Gabin, les gens d’Uterpan, The Bruce High Quality Foundation, Little Warsaw, OPAVIVARÁ!, The Propeller Group, Public Movement, Rafani, Raqs Media Collective, Société Réaliste, Reena Spaulings, Tercerunquinto, Tromarama and Yangjiang Group.
In the era of the blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and online pseudonymity, a period characterized by the rise of alternative forms of community engagements, a new kind of artist/s has emerged. Expanding the historical denomination of the “artist collective” and rethinking the notion of signature and artistic labor, this new kind of artist/s is an amalgamation of associates, working under fictitious names appropriated from other fields’ brands, labels, and terms such as economics (société [society, company], corporation), social science and geography (movement, city), and the Internet (the .org domain identifier).
This new kind of artist/s is not merely “a collective”; rather, this entity swings between singularity and multiplicity, acting under a different form of agency – either as a special agent, double agent, or free agent. Furthermore, this new kind of artist/s layers wide-ranging backgrounds in diverse disciplines: dance, philosophy, design and architecture, education, and activism, to name a few. Yet this artist/s shares certain common concerns: a subversive yet playful critique of national symbols, such as the flag, and a profound interest in urban identity, such as city monuments and the mobilization of movement with it. These ideas can materialize in disparate formats that span conceptual artworks, immersive installations, curated exhibitions, texts, and objects, as well as time-based works like videos, displayed here as an exhibition-within-the-exhibition and presented in the cinema-like Marc Schimmel Multipurpose Gallery.
This group exhibition is, at the same time, an exhibition of groups, and the motivation behind “NOT IN MY NAME” is to create a space in which these different positions contextualize each other, inform each other, and clash against one another; in so doing, they redefine notions of authorship, creativity, signature and labor in the field of visual art. In this project the common supersedes the designation of the individual artist and the actual number of persons involved is unknown. Last but not least, “NOT IN MY NAME” has a truly global reach, and includes artists either coming from, or working in cities located within the borders of: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Russia, United States, and Vietnam.
The main sponsor of “NOT IN MY NAME,” CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo’s annual group exhibition, is Factory 54.
Major support provided by Fondation Pluriel pour L’Art Contemporain and IL.Collection, and Outset Contemporary Art Fund.
Additional support provided by BUILDING, Milan, Dr. Philippe Cohen, Sonia S. Cummings, the Czech Center and Smartwings, the Danish Arts Foundation, Edna and Prof. Avital Fast, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Tel Aviv, the Lithuanian Culture Institute, Magazzino, Rome. Special thanks to Institut Français d’Israël.
Images
1
Arbit City
In Search of Happiness, 2018
Flags and flagpoles, variable dimensions
2
0100101110101101.org
(Eva & Franco Mattes)
BEFNOED, 2013
Videos, screens, custom steel frame, various cables, dimensions variable
Courtesy of APALAZZO Gallery, Brescia (Italy) and Postmasters, New York
3
Rafani
The People and the Stars on the Wave, 2017
Digital print on drapery, 500 × 600 cm
4
Reena Spaulings
Dealer Rack (Porte-Galleristes), 2007
Postcards, postcard rack, 144.8 × ⌀31.8 cm
Collection of Dr. Philippe Cohen, Herzliya (Israel)
5
Grupo Etcétera
FAKE NEWS – The Helicopter Club, Buenos Aires, 2017-2022
Mixed media, variable dimensions
NOT IN MY NAME
–
August 26, 2022
June 27, 2022