Madeleine Seidel
Tiona Nekkia McClodden: Hold on, let me take the safety off
By Madeleine SeidelYou are hit first by the contrast. The clinical white of the gallery walls behind the black leather and paint draw in and repel—equal and opposite forces. Within the freeing constraints of the gallery space, we are invited to explore an artistic vision of other types of freeing constraint: physical and psychological kinds, based off leather and trust and, most importantly, balance in pain and pleasure.
Virtual Views: Video Lives
By Madeleine SeidelThe selection of video art included here explores our digitally-driven moment by highlighting the fact that privacy and leisure are privileges not often extended to women, queer people, and people of color. Even though the exhibition is framed as an exploration of intimacy and technology, intimacy is not often afforded to these artists, whose emotional labor and identities are still contested within the domestic sphere.
Madeline Hollander: Heads/Tails
By Madeleine SeidelA 2019 Whitney Biennial participant and professional choreographer, Madeline Hollander uses her impressive conceptual dance practice to analyze the ways in which humans interact within the mechanical trappings of modern society and urban landscapes.
Xandra Ibarra: Forever Sidepiece
By Madeleine SeidelIn the early 1980s, postcolonial theorist Homi Bhabha coined the term “fixity” to describe the motifs and symbols visual discourse has used to craft harmful stereotypes and establish the “difference” of minoritized communities. Usually involving references to supposed violence or sexual deviance by highlighting the physical body and its flesh, this covert language of images perpetuates prejudice against the Other. It is this visual lexicon that the Oakland-based artist Xandra Ibarra explores, parodies, and reclaims in her exhibition Forever Sidepiece, showing at Queens’s Knockdown Center through October 27.
190 Seconds in Lockdown: Usama Alshaibi & Adam Sekuler’s Cinema-19
By Madeleine SeidelUsama Alshaibi and Adam Sekuler’s omnibus film project examines filmmakers’ experiences in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, with some films facing the challenge head on and others through less conspicuous means.
