Now on view on Faena New York, Antonia Wright’s Be (2013), a single channel vide depicting the artist covered in a colony of 15,000 bees while practicing Tai Chi. Tai Chi and bees are similar in that they both have the capacity for violence, but in their peaceful states, raise vitality in the body and the environment. By covering herself with a colony of bees while doing Tai Chi, Wright demonstrates the universal, fragile balance between threat and calm. In preparation for the performance, Wright spent an extended period learning Tai Chi and meditation, including traveling to India to receive instruction at an ashram. The performance raises awareness for the problems facing bees, while also serving as a visual metaphor for how we can remain peaceful even in the face of danger.
Bio
Antonia Wright is a Cuban-American artist born in Miami, Florida. Wright received her MFA in Poetry from The New School in New York City as well as at the International Center of Photography for photo and video. Wright explores empathy in contemporary life through a multidisciplinary practice that blurs the boundaries between live performance, video, photography, poetry, sound, and sculpture. Exhibitions include shows at The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., Perez Art Museum Miami, Pioneer Works in New York, Faena Arts Center in Buenos Aires, The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Spinello Projects in Miami, Luis de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Arizona, The National Gallery of Art in Nassau, and Ping Pong in Basel, Switzerland. In April 2012, she became and founded the first artist-in-residence at the Lotus House Shelter in Overtown, Miami. She won a WaveMaker Grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation and was CINTAS Foundation Fellowshio finalista awarded to artists with Cuban heritage.