Review by Clementine Hage
Installation view, ‘The Flesh of the Earth,’ Hauser & Wirth New York 22nd Street ©Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Sarah Muehlbauer
‘The Flesh of the Earth’, a group exhibition at Hauser and Wirth, urges viewers to shed our boundaries between ourselves and the natural world. The multidisciplinary show confronts the viewer with a proposition of ego death, a removal from the harsh and cold distractions of society and the exhausting push of continual movement towards ‘success’. Success in the eyes of this show has nothing to do with a career or a monetary goal. Success and fulfillment is truly reached when as a human you become one with the earth again. These artists are displaying acts of love and devotion to what gives us life and the elements that are sublime in all senses of the word.
Installation view, ‘The Flesh of the Earth,’ Hauser & Wirth New York 22nd Street ©Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Sarah Muehlbauer
All of the works in the exhibit bring in new context for this desire to be stripped down to our bare neutral humanistic selves and reach absolution with the earth. But there is one piece in particular that sums up the beautiful severity of the earth in a monumental way. “Lightning” by Lorna Simpson is an extraordinarily overwhelming piece that evokes our human connection to the sublime. The painting is created with screen printing and ink on gessoed fiberglass. These materials combine to create a textural painting, filled with depth and raw material. The flow and saturation of the gestural blue inks seems to seep into the rough rocky gray bellow. The screen printed text and singular humble image connect these two opposing forces, allowing for endless exploration and a flow for the viewer's eye to follow.
Lorna Simpson, Lightning, 2021, Ink and screenprint on gessoed fiberglass 259.1 x 365.8 x 3.5 cm /102 x 144 x 1 3/8 in © Lorna Simpson Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo:James Wang
The show utilizes many different mediums like sculpture, painting, embroidery, and video work. The wonderfully executed curation of the show allows for all of these pieces to work together despite their differences in creation and format. The singular video piece in the exhibit, “Cosmic Echoes” by Adama Delphine Fawundu, is one of the first works seen in the show. Through the use of sound, “Cosmic Echoes” remains present throughout the entirety of the exhibit. The sound of the video piece, including birds, animals, and moving water, fills the whole room while still remaining subtle, as if the sounds are completely natural to the space.
Installation view, ‘The Flesh of the Earth,’ Hauser & Wirth New York 22nd Street ©Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Sarah Muehlbauer
This works extremely well with another piece in the show, “Untitled Stranger” by Rashid Johnson. “Untitled Stranger” is a sculptural piece meant to be experienced from all sides in the round. The metal scaffolding-esq structure allows for the other works around it to be seen in conjunction. From specific angles this viewing process combines multiple pieces into one. The addition of hearing “Cosmic Echoes” ruminating as well, creates a sense of equity and oneness between the works. It is a type connection that the show as a whole envelopes and comes to fruition when experiencing all of these works together.
Installation view, ‘The Flesh of the Earth,’ Hauser & Wirth New York 22nd Street ©Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Sarah Muehlbauer
‘The Flesh of the Earth’ is in its final week of display. Visit Hauser and Wirth before the exhibit closes on April 8th, 2024 to experience a thought provoking and humanizing exhibition. The show is curated by Nigerian-American writer and critic Enuma Okoro and features artists Olafur Eliasson, AdamaDelphine Fawundu, Jenny Holzer, Rashid Johnson, Haley Mellin, Cassi Namoda, Lorna Simpson, Kiki Smith, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, and Billie Zangewa.
