Peripheral Belonging
Magdalena Dukiewicz, Terrance James Jr., Char Jeré, Jiwon Rhie, and Guillermo Rodriguez
September 4th -September 28th, 2024
Opening reception September 4th, 6-9pm
Peripheral Belonging presents works by Magdalena Dukiewicz, Terrance James Jr., Char Jeré, Jiwon Rhie, and Guillermo Rodriguez that consider the interdependent dynamics at play between alienation and belonging, individuality and collectivity, visibility, and invisibility. Thinking through aspects of autonomy, mutuality, and hybridity, the exhibition engages with complicated circuits of identity woven by technology, society, corporeal fixation, memories, fantasies, place, space, time, and an undercurrent of responsive vibrations and layered frequencies threaded through. The works grapple with the task of knowing and unknowing—the constant fluctuation of the self, individual and collective, determined by an entanglement of internal and external circumstances, a negotiation of elastic mass, matter, and consciousness that demarcates boundaries of form and categories of existence, yet also presents these conceptions as ever ripe for transgression and a reimagining.
In Genuflect Symphony, Char Jeré redefines "Black noise" not as an absence, but as a profound presence that challenges the notion of silence as passivity. Black noise embodies the resonance of lived experience, the echo of history, and the assertion of identity in the face of erasure. It is a powerful, persistent signal that cuts through interference, demanding to be heard. Inspired by Frantz Fanon's exploration of the psychological effects of racism and colonization in Black Skin, White Masks, Jeré creates a visual and auditory narrative that confronts the pervasive and insidious nature of systemic racism while asserting the resilience and enduring presence of Black identity. Fanon explores how Black individuals are often forced to wear "masks"—adopting behaviors imposed by a white-dominated society—in an attempt to survive in a world that devalues their identity. This masking leads to a suppression of the true self, an erasure that Jeré’s work seeks to expose. Using Marsona white noise machines, comet bleach tubes, and ceramic Black ears, Jeré symbolizes the relentless hum of systemic racism and the destructive attempts to "cleanse" or whiten Black identity. The comet bleach tubes represent the violence of assimilation, a form of erasure central to Fanon's work. In science, noise is often seen as unwanted variation, distorting or masking the clarity of a signal—much like how systemic racism distorts and obscures Black identities. The Black ears, crafted from black clay, stand as a counterpoint, symbolizing the act of listening deeply to Black voices. Despite pressures to conform, these voices resist, persist, and demand to be heard. By juxtaposing these elements, the work connects to Fanon's exploration of identity and the psychological impact of racism.
In Jiwon Rhie’s Mirror Blind (Conscious Consciousness) from the Defined Boundaries series, interactive kinetic sculptures invite viewers to engage with a sensor and a metal-framed mirror, exploring questions about identity and perception. The duality of images reflected by the mirrors, plexiglass, and metal surfaces prompts inquiries into self-reflection and challenges self-imposed limitations. Rhie’s Defined Boundaries series examines the societal constructs of what defines a "boundary" by repurposing ordinary industrial objects like blinds, room dividers, and mirrors. The movable blinds, transparent room dividers, and permeable mirrors introduce new ways of recognizing and perceiving physical borders. Beyond the physical, this opens the opportunity to reflect on the cognitive boundaries that shape viewers’ perspectives, shattering the conventional definition of a "boundary." It is an exploration not only of physical space but also of the cognitive boundaries that unconsciously direct our actions. I see you, and at the same time, I see myself: a state where we ared always conscious of others and their perspectives.
Terrance James Jr. considers how semiotics relate to post-human and Afro-surrealist interpretations of our collective present. Exploring themes such as disembodiment, anxiety, and displacement he weaves speculative fiction into autobiographical narrative. His practice engages with technology and industrialization as they relate to the human cost of capitalism. Indexically titled, his black and white archival inkjet prints such as 004_05A_053 and 007_01B_001 depict sculptures of isolated parts of the body strongly associated with the self such as the head and torso merged with industrial material that the artist photographs and reproduces as flattened, two-dimensional presentations. The prints evoke an uncanny tension between both a feeling of distancing and familiarity with the body. Working primarily with industrial materials such as polymers and plastics, James engages with notions of artificiality and environmental concerns. Pointing to material and labor, he explores the complexities of a rapidly changing artificial human landscape.
Starting from the discarded and the banal, Guillermo Rodriguez makes assemblages of objects that reincarnate the physical body and the channels it is perceived through. Through processes of transformation and material distress, his sculptures play with the inherent tension between the natural versus the artificial, chance versus the intentional, and the individual part versus the whole. Rodriquez’s Demi-pointe, a floor-to-ceiling sculpture, parses the body as a vehicle of desire and an obstacle to it. Starting from a replica of his own foot, a ball chain made of hollow steel spirals down and then up towards the ceiling, creating an abstract extension of the realistic foot that evokes internal elements of the body—tendons, bones, viscera, and flowing blood—on the outside. Here, what is left out is just as important as what is shown as the piece links desire with absence and reminds us that what is confessed is just as important as what is omitted when it comes to intimacy, autoeroticism, fetishism, and taboo. In Double Figure, Rodriguez presents a mobile sculpture consisting of two hands suspended from, but not fixed to, a perfectly balanced pole. Identical in gesture, both hands point down with their index fingers in an act of assertion, even demand, confronting each other across a void even as they show a reflection of each other. At once close and yet separate, the piece evokes the paradox of the self and the shadow, making visible the way we objectify our own bodies, create fragments and images of ourselves, and still create otherness within our own selves. Across his oeuvre, Rodriquez parses the dissonance between the intimacy and otherness that can be perceived within the body, and the way sensations of safety and strangeness are reflected in private rituals and a fixed persona even as we deal with irremediable impermanence, memory, and decay.
Magdalena Dukiewicz’s installation Oscillations integrates the artist’s own blood and hair with copper rods and medical equipment. Dukiewicz repurposes breathing tubes previously used by her mother during her illness. These tubes are submerged in an orange-red liquid, evocative of blood, housed within a transparent container. An air pump intermittently breathes air into the tubes, causing the liquid to rise and fall, mimicking the rhythms of respiration. Dukiewicz incorporates her own blood and hair in the work as an expression of reclaiming bodily autonomy in response to the societal and political urge to control and define womxn’s identities. The circulation of blood-like fluid throughout the installation reflects the exchange of power, and how autonomy can be both relinquished and regained. Asserting her bodily agency, Dukiewicz employs her body and hair on her terms, explicitly challenging external forces— be they societal norms, technological systems, or institutional power and suppression—that seek to confine the body and define identity. Through the interplay of organic and mechanical elements, Oscillations encourage contemplation on the forces that shape our sense of self and our relationships. It speaks to the resilience required to navigate and negotiate personal autonomy. More specifically, it reflects the vulnerability and endurance of the female body, and connection with the mother, like the symbolic umbilical cord that inculcates and nourishes generations of a patriarchal oppressive system into our veins.
Artists Bio:
Char Jeré merges their background in data science with a passion for social, economic, and environmental justice. Before receiving an MFA in sound art from the Computer Music Center at Columbia University in 2023, Jeré earned an MS in Data Analytics and Visualization from Pratt Institute in 2021. In 2023 Jeré was the recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant that helped fund their first solo exhibition Zoo or an Orchestra at Artists Space, NY. Their works have been shown at Andrew Kreps Gallery, Storage, TheBlanc, the Half Gallery, Chashama, New York Art Book Fair, CLEA RSKY Gallery, the Jewish Museum, IRCAM Festival, Columbia University Music and Arts Library. Jeré is currently working on a sound performance for the Media Arts Assistance Fund through NYSCA and Wave Farm.
Jiwon Rhie is a Korean multidisciplinary artist based in New York. Her work deals with diverse subject matter across installations, sculptures, and video, exploring ideas of boundaries, human relationships, cultural identities, and communication. Jiwon holds an MFA from Pratt Institute and BFAs from Hannam University and Hongik University. She has shown her work throughout the United States, including a solo exhibition at La MaMa Galleria, Transmitter Gallery, and NARS Foundation and group shows at The Bronx Museum of Arts, Bombay Beach Biennale, Five Myles, Spring Break Show, HOME gallery, and Korean Cultural Center NY. Jiwon was selected for diverse fellowships and grants, including The Bronx Museum of Arts A.I.M Fellowship and New York State Council on the Arts Support for Artists Grants. She has participated in residency programs at Monira Foundation, 4Heads AIR, and NARS Foundation.
Terrance James Jr. (b. New Brunswick, NJ) is an interdisciplinary artist and photographer based in Brooklyn, USA. He has exhibited nationally and internationally at institutions such as Pace Gallery, The Hole, Flux Factory, ICEBOX Project Space, as well as at fairs and festivals including the Pingyao International Photography Festival in Pingyao, China; Photoville in Brooklyn, NY; and SCOPE Art Miami, Miami Beach, FL. He attended The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2017 and was a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Workspace participant in 2018-2019. He received his BA from The Tyler School of Art at Temple University in 2011 and his MFA from Parsons The New School of Design in 2013.
Guillermo Rodriguez Born Asturias (Spain), 1975 MFA Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona 2001. BFA Polytechnic University, Valencia 1999. His work has been exhibited in multiple group shows such as ‘Creació Jove 2000’, La Capella (Barcelona), ‘Mostra Union Fenosa 2001’, Estación Marítima (A Coruña) and Espacio Valverde (Madrid, 2006). Rodriguez’s first solo project Drawing the Landscape, Sala Borrón (Oviedo, 2000), had itineancy at Conseyu de Mocedá (Gijón, 2001). His most recent show Of Impulse was held at Lisa Derrick Fine Arts in Los Angeles, in 2020. More recently, he opened his studio doors during Art in DUMBO Open Studios (Brooklyn, 2022 and 2023).
Magdalena Dukiewicz, b. Warsaw, Poland, is a visual artist based in New York. She graduated from Complutense University in Madrid (2013) and Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts (2008). Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions at GHOSTMACHINE Gallery, NY, NO Gallery, NY, The Immigrant Artist Biennial at NARS Foundation, Brooklyn, NY, SVA Flatiron Gallery, NY, Ivy Brown Gallery, NY The Border Project Space, NY, Bio BAT Art Space and Sci-Art Center, NY, and during the Berlin Art and Science Week. Dukiewicz has been awarded Pioneer Works art residency in Brooklyn, Nessa Cohen Grant for Sculpture, Polish Ministry of Culture and Heritage grant, Carlos Amorales Studio Residency, and the SVA’s Bio Art Residency.