BE
—ANTONIA WRIGHT
Now on view at Faena New York
Be (2013) is a single-channel video depicting the artist covered in a colony of 15,000 bees while practicing Tai Chi. Tai Chi and bees share a dual nature: both hold the potential for harm, yet in peaceful states, they generate vitality within the body and the environment. Through controlled movement, Wright demonstrates the fragile balance between threat and calm.
In preparation for the performance, Wright undertook an extended period of Tai Chi and meditation training, including travel to India to study at an ashram. The work addresses environmental pressures on bee populations while asserting that perceived danger does not require aggression. More than ever, the performance reflects the possibility of remaining peaceful amid cycles of fear, conflict, and retaliation.
Single-channel HD video
2 min 49 sec, loop
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.