Modern Painters

REVIEWS100 MODERN PAINTERS JUNE/JULY 2016BLOUINARTINFO.COMTORONTO``````“Cut The World Until It Fits On The Back Of Your Hand”Clint Roenisch Gallery // February 11–March 12``````THE TITLE FOR this group show featuringÀYHDUWLVWVFRPHVIURPD'LQRVDXU-UVRQJ³DQLFHQDPHIRUDQH[KLELWLRQWKDW·VEXLOWPRVWO\RQRUQDPHQWDQGDHVWKHWLFV7KHÀUVWZRUNVVHHQRQHQWHULQJWKHJDOOHU\DUHE\&DQDGLDQDUWLVW(OL/DQJHUZKRVHFDUHHULVFKDUDFWHUL]HGE\DQHIIRUWOHVVPDVWHU\RIFRORUOLJKWDQGOLQH.QRZQSULPDULO\IRUSDLQWLQJKLVÀUVWWZRZRUNVLQWKHIURQWURRPWKHZRUN6WDQGLQJ5HWUR5HÁHFWRUVDIDOVHZDOOEXLOWIURPPXOWLFRORUHGSLHFHVRIUHÁHFWLYHSODVWLFDQGZRRGDQGFree BallastFluorescentsDKXPEOHDUUDQJHPHQW``````RIOLJKWVSRHWLFDOO\H[HPSOLI\LQVSDFHWKHTXDOLWLHVKH·VZRUNHGDWVRFRQVLVWHQWO\RQFDQYDV7ZR$UW1RXYHDXHVTXHVWUXFWXUHVRISDVWHOSDLQWHGZRRGPLJKWVHHPVWULFWO\RUQDPHQWDOZHUHWKH\QRWLQWHUUXSWHGE\IUDJPHQWHGFHUDPLFUHQGHULQJVRIKXPDQIDFHVZHGJHGEHWZHHQRUSODFHGXSRQWKHZRRGHQVXSSRUWV/DQJHU·VWDOHQWOLHVLQWKHVHVLPSOHJHVWXUHV$WWKHIDUHQGRIWKHJDOOHU\DODUJHDWWUDFWLYHDEVWUDFWSDLQWLQJWhiskeyE\0DUYLQ/XYXDOX$QWRQLRVXFFHHGVDWEHLQJDODUJHDWWUDFWLYHDEVWUDFWSDLQWLQJ6DUDK&DOHVKRZVDQDSSHDOLQJVHW``````RIZRUNVKHUHWKDWDUHPDUNHGO\GLIIHUHQWIURPKHUSUHYLRXVRHXYUH7KH\DUHKRZHYHUUHPLQLVFHQWRIFDQYDVHVE\DQRWKHUDEVWUDFWSDLQWHUIURP7RURQWR-D\,VDDFRQHLQSDUWLFXODUIdle EcstasyERUHDQXQFDQQ\UHVHPEODQFHWRDSDLQWLQJRI,VDDF·VVKRZQODVW-XO\DW7RURQWR·V&RRSHU&ROHJDOOHU\7KHFRORUDWLRQWKDWRIWHQSUHRFFXSLHV,VDDFSXUSOHEOXHDQGRUDQJHDVZHOODVWKHRGGJHRPHWU\KHHPSOR\VZHUHERWKSUHVHQWLQ&DOH·VSLHFHDOVRDEHDXWLIXOSDLQWLQJ7KHVWURQJHVWZRUNLQWKHVKRZLV-RQ6DVDNL·VVLPSOHWUDJLFDQGIXQQ\LQVWDOODWLRQWe’ll Meet Again Sometime6DVDNLKDVSODFHGDSDLURIDVDSOD\HUVRQWRSRISURMHFWRUVRQWKHÁRRUWZLQDVDORJRVFUHHQVDYHUVSURMHFWHGRQWRWKHZDOO7KHORJRVPRYHLQDFLUFXODUSDWWHUQVHHPLQJO\LQSXUVXLWRIHDFKRWKHU$VLVFRPPRQZLWK6DVDNL·VZRUNDVPDOOPHDVXUHRIVDGQHVVWRXFKHGE\DJULPFRPHGLFVXEWH[WHOLFLWVDVHQVHRISDWKRV7KHORJRVVWDQGLQDVWZRGLIIHUHQWÀJXUHVIRUHYHUORVWLQWKHDE\VVRIWHFKQRORJ\WRXFKLQJEULHÁ\EXWZLWKRXWDQ\SURIRXQGFRQQHFWLRQ —Brad Phillips``````CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS``````Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil JoreigeMIT List Visual Arts Center // February 19–April 17``````THE HOUSE OF RUMOR, in aLatin poem by Ovid, is astructure with “numberlessentrances,” none of thethresholds “barred with asingle gate or a door.”Fictions clamor and rever-berate endlessly throughthe bronze-walled interior.At the List Center, thevisitor enters into a dinof voices not unlike the oneOvid once imagined. Thisasynchronous chorus, how-ever, takes a digital form:inexorable scam e-mailsthat clog in-boxes and tracethe peculiar networksof capital. Hadjithomas andJoreige call the 2014 workThe Rumor of the World.Clips of nonprofessionalactors reading scam letterscollected by the artists since1999 play on more than 47speakers and 13 screens,each reader standing aloneagainst a black background:enjoining, pleading with,and enticing the viewer to``````help, in a flat manner,while evoking variouspolitical or social upheavalsto add credibility to theirtales. A soft-spoken “SuhaArafat,” Yasser Arafat’swidow, instructs you totransfer money to an accountout of the country. (You’ll ofcourse get a cut.) In Liberia,“Esther Jacob” asks youto invest her family’s money inyour country, following thearrest of her father, a formerhead of commerce andtourism wrongly convicted ofsmuggling gold. In Iraq,American “Sergeant WilliamBrooks” has found $35 millionin drug money and wantsyou to help him move it.(Meanwhile, another soul haslost her husband and childrenin the Iraq War, “just foroil,” she says.) “If you havebeen following the news,”they urge. “God bless you,”they offer. “Minimum risk foryou,” they insist.Curators and artists have``````FROM TOP:Installationv i e w o f “C u t T h eWorld Until ItFits On TheBack Of YourHand,” 2016.RIGHT:JoanaHadjithomasand KhalilJoreigeInstallationview of Fidel,2014.