Tag: Deb Sokolow

AN ORGANISM IN RICHMOND: In the future we predict a large and significant living organism will begin to take shape at the corner of Belvidere and Broad … There are other organisms in Richmond, to be sure, but none quite like this one. So writes Chicago-based artist Deb Sokolow in her pamphlet, “A Living Organism at Broad and Belvidere” (2017), commissioned for Declaration, the inaugural exhibition at Virginia Commonwealth University’s new Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) — located at the corner of Belvidere and Broad streets. It serves as an introductory statement reflecting the hopeful anticipation of a university, philanthropists, and staff, but also a larger city and region of onlookers. Nearly one third of the building is an auditorium that cantilevers over one entrance. This compartmentalized exterior creates four long rectangular gallery spaces inside, and because of the large number of works included in Declaration, there is an overall crowded feeling to the exhibition with the exception of the top floor. “We wanted to create an experience that would encourage people to move around the whole building and that responds to the architecture,” Smith explains. It is quickly apparent that questions surrounding race and social justice are paramount. While works like these that engage issues of social justice take center stage, other themes — like time or placemaking and belonging — act as ancillary nodes throughout Declaration. One highlight in particular is Stephen Vitiello’s sound installation “whether there was a bell or whether I knocked” (2018), which plays recordings of people reading “The Garden of Forking Paths” in different languages. Some may accuse the curators of being too politically heavy-handed, but what then is the role of art-making in the 21st century?