Art Basel Miami Beach

Adam Pendleton

Ishmael in the Garden: A Portrait of Ishmael Houston-Jones

2018

Adam Pendleton’s video work Ishmael in the Garden: A Portrait of Ishmael Houston-Jones focuses on the life of the choreographer, author, performer, teacher, and curator. Ishmael, born Charles Houston-Jones, is renowned for his collaborative and improvised dances including Cowboys, Dreams and Ladders (1984), THEM (1985/2010/2018), and Variations on Themes from Lost and Found: Scenes from a Life and other works by John Bernd (2016).

As composites of interview, conversation, and recitation, each of Pendleton's video works present a nuanced view of their subjects and question certain modes of representation, from the personal histories of the subjects to broader concepts of authorship and the veracity of the image. Originally inspired by Gertrude Stein’s text-based portraits, the videos capture beautiful, intimate, and profoundly self-reflexive encounters between the artist and his subjects.

Fred Wilson

Sala Longhi / A Moth of Peace

2011 – 2019

Sala Longhi (2011) was inspired by the Pietro Longhi (Venice 1701–1785) room of the Baroque palace Ca’ Rezzonico which features a painting cycle depicting the daily life of the haute bourgeoisie in 18th–century Venice. Wilson’s installation evokes the Longhi gallery with 27 black glass panels in antique wood frames double-hung around three walls.

The title of A Moth of Peace is taken from a line in Othello in which Desdemona refers to herself as a “moth of peace” left alone when Othello is sent off to war. The lightness of the work, which is made of clear and milky white glass decorated with traditional flower and leaf shapes, is expressed through this title.

Fred Wilson’s Sala Longhi / A Moth of Peace (2011–2019) becomes a minimal yet potent expression of Wilson’s practice of radical juxtaposition and recontextualization while continuing his ongoing relationship with Venice and its centuries-long glass making tradition.