Annual art fair VOLTANY is fast
approaching, and this year Bahamian artist Tessa Whitehead will be representing
Popopstudios International Center for the Visual Arts. Following in the
foodsteps of Heino Schmid, John Cox and Kendal Hanna – all of whom have upheld
Popop’s name at VOLTANY – Whitehead will be one of the 100 exhibitors from 43
countries at the fair that is now in its ninth year.
Known for her conceptual works
that incorporate themes of balance with everyday shapes from the landscape,
Whitehead will transport several sculptures and a series of paintings to the
show in New York’s Meat Packing District. One of her featured works will be her
“Rainbow of Stars” – a string of 354 individual stars cut from wood, which is
hoisted up and extended from the ceiling, creating a rainbow shape. The first
iteration of the sculpture came out of a 2014 residency that Whitehead
undertook at Chisenhale Studios, in London.
“It needs to be hoisted up like a
sail, but I don’t make it quite so stable,” explained Whitehead. “It’s almost
like a failed romantic sculpture because it doesn’t quite hold itself up. It’s
kind of collapsing at the same time as being quite regal and large and
ambitious.”
Her “Pentagon”, another sculpture
she will be exhibiting at the fair, is inspired by common architectural shapes.
“I look at landscape a lot, and
symbols in landscape and repetitive shapes in landscape are important to me… My
pentagon work has all these connotations to do with the home and the house.
It’s a shape we see a lot in most landscapes and I think about how to work with
it in a sculptural way,” explained Whitehead.
Nominated by the Popopstudios board,
Whitehead’s commitment to her practice made her stand out as a potential
nominee. More recently, her work has involved everyday materials that are both
found and constructed, like pieces of lumber, concrete and nails. Visionary
ideas come through the most delicate and vulnerable of balances that are
created with her sculptures. In her painting practice Whitehead layers oil paints
to offer her viewers complex perspectives on light, shadow, newness and visible
ageing and decay. In more recent times, she has been experimenting with size,
creating works that are considerably large.
Wanting to select someone from
the Popop community to represent the studios this year and believing that
Whitehead’s newer movements would fit in with VOLTANY’s mission, the board
chose her. From March 2-6, her works will be on display at Pier 90 in Hell’s
Kitchen, New York, the location of this year’s festival.
“I love Popop. I think it’s an
important and special space. I feel like I have a lot on my shoulders
representing them,” said Whitehead. “I really respect the practices of the
people who went before me – and I’m not someone who puts people on pedestals,
especially with art, but their practices are strong, so it’s important for me
to do a good job for Popop.”
VOLTANY is an
invitational visual arts fair held during Armory Arts Week in New York City. It
is the American incarnation of the original Basel VOLTA show, which was
co-founded in 2005 by National Art Gallery of The Bahamas Director Amanda
Coulson. Since its debut in New York in 2008, VOLTANY Artistic Director Amanda
Coulson reconceived the format to a boutique event, spotlighting artists through
solo projects. For more information, visit http://ny.voltashow.com/info/.
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