Desire
-Body Without Organs
December 15, 2024 - December 28, 2024
13 Grattan St, #402, Brooklyn, NY11206
Artists
Cameron Barker
Siri Burt
Leyla Cui
Ruichao Jiang
Lus Kairos
Kimin Kim
Gabriel Lee
Jes Mingjia
Yooyeon Nam
Ping Wang
Kexin Zhang
Mika Lungulov-Klotz & Alanna Murray
Curator
Kexin Zhang
Tianchen Gong
Curator assistant
Yishu Lu
A Space is thrilled to announce the new group exhibition Desire, an exhibition that delves into the multifaceted nature of longing, impulse, material craving, and physical passion. At the same time, Desire serves as a metaphor for tension and boundless possibilities, inviting viewers to confront and explore the profound depths of human emotion and imagination. Drawing inspiration from Gilles Deleuze's concept of the "Body Without Organs," the exhibition reimagines the body as liberated from structural confines, where every part has the capacity to "think," except for the brain itself. This framework situates desire as an active, limitless force of creativity and unrestrained potential.
Through a variety of mediums, the exhibition examines the intricate interplay between desire and aesthetics. By investigating the origins and essence of the body, it seeks to uncover hidden emotions and highlight the expansive potential of desire. Desire challenges societal repressions and taboos, encouraging viewers to rediscover their misunderstood or suppressed yearnings and break free from the quiet constraints of convention.
Cameron Barker’s “Always” borrows from the political motto “We have always been here” and pairs queer bodies, desire and intimacy with pigments associated with the earliest documentation of human existence. Iron oxide, used for over 40,000 years to represent human experience, merges with queer intimacy in this piece. This fusion emphasizes the undeniability of queerness as an intrinsic part of humanity’s history. Siri Burt’s “Fused Throats” blends ceramics and photography to examine bodily transformation and shifting symbolism, questioning established narratives through fragmented depictions of the female body. Their work creates a personal mythology with relic-like aesthetics, emphasizing transformation in both form and meaning through the process of transferring photographs onto ceramics.
Leyla Cui’s “The Unveiled Gaze” explores surveillance, vulnerability, and societal judgment through a locked breast adorned with watchful eyes, symbolizing the suppression of femininity and desire. The piece evokes Sartre's idea that "Hell is other people," highlighting the tension between exposure and concealment, autonomy and objectification, while an open hand symbolizes longing and reflection on societal complicity in shaping perceptions of bodies, desire, and identity. In “Perfect Vagina”, Ruichao Jiang examines the "perfect vagina" as depicted in Chinese female-oriented erotic fiction, where intersex characters with both penises and vaginas challenge female identity constraints. Using AI to extract keywords from these stories, Jiang created a sculpture that explores the complex interplay of physiology, identity, and desire in these fantasy narratives.
Lus Kairos’ “DOWSHA Live” explores the fear and process of self-discovery, embracing impermanence and non-attachment while learning that transformation involves self-compassion, not self-sacrifice. Through paintings, films, and performance, the work invites viewers to confront their shadows, fostering kindness and lightness within themselves and others. Kimin Kim’s “The numbers Don’t Decide (Like the Pretty Broken Flowers)” examines the interaction between four figures and their floral environment, blurring the boundaries between bodies and nature. The piece’s repetitive, ritualistic arrangement merges the figures with chaotic flora, dissolving the body into its surroundings and reflecting a longing for escape, refuge, and transcendence within nature.
Gabriel Lee’s “Tension” captures the intense feelings of obsession, connection, and enchantment when locking eyes with someone from across the room, while “To Build a World of Language” reimagines the manananggal, a Filipinx monster, as a symbol of trans bodies shaped by language and sexuality. Featuring a sensor-speaker circuit sharing a t4t secret and guts filled with metabolized comments from trans erotica, the work explores transformation, identity, and the embodied experience of trans existence. Jes Mingjia’s “Polaroid Basquiat Film” celebrates the unique beauty of women’s bodies, focusing on intimate, often overlooked details like hands, feet, and skin. Despite feelings of dissatisfaction, the final images reveal striking beauty, inviting deeper appreciation for these subtle aspects of the body.
Ping Wang’s “Equilibrium” uses the positioning and structure of materials as a metaphor for the symbiotic relationship of desire expressed through the body, exploring how we shape and are shaped by our surroundings. The work reflects the tension between longing and restraint, stability and vulnerability, embodying desire as a force that transcends physical and emotional boundaries. Kexin Zhang’s “Happy Thanksgiving” intertwines female desire and food cravings, using vivid symbolism to depict tension between restriction and release. The woman in the painting, bound with ropes and gagged, symbolizes both possession and submission, while the indulgent food around her reflects sexual undertones. The contrast between the vibrant background and the excessive feast highlights the insatiable pursuit of desire, questioning the relationship between appetite, longing, and primal instincts.
Mika Lungulov-Klotz and Alanna Murray’s “There’s Nothing for Me Here” reflects the filmmakers' shared struggle with the elusive concept of home, shaped by their multicultural and transnational experiences. Mika, navigating Chilean, Serbian, and American identities, and Alanna, a Korean adoptee raised in an Irish-Italian family, explore feelings of alienation and disconnection from both place and self. The work conveys a romantic yet futile longing for belonging, highlighting the search for a "home" that feels promised but remains uncertain. Yooyeon Nam’s “Imagined Mandarava” depicts calm endurance in the face of pain, symbolized by a figure pulling a string from her mouth. Part of my series In the Face of, it reflects cultural displacement while honoring Korean heritage, drawing inspiration from Buddha sculptures and the Buddhist Mandala.
Installation View
