The Thinkers

2014 - Sculpture (Sculpture)

Adriana Lara


Lara uses things readily at hand to create objects and situations that interrogate the processes of art and the spectrum of roles that art and artists play in society. To these ends, she has used furniture, projections, photographs, clothing, and even people as her materials. A reflection on how the production of meaning itself takes place in the manufacturing of things is embodied in wooden hand chairs, a crafty Indonesian version of the iconic Pedro Friedeberg 1960s Pop design. Facing one another and pulling a tight thread between their fingers as if playing a game, The Thinkers (2014) is a magnified version of the practice of weaving, with the hand as the primary technological tool. Part readymade, part joke, and part examination of the role of the artist, the significance of this simple gesture hinges on the feeling of discontinuity, the shift in consciousness, that it provokes.


Adriana Lara is fascinated by how a single thing (an object, a photograph, a song, a text) can be transformed into a work of art. This process does not relate to formal alteration or the application of expert skill, but rather to a simple act of articulation. Rather than relying on the physical creation of something new, this becomes that (namely, art) because the artist declares it to be so. This special kind of alchemy imbues all of Lara’s objects with a restless ambiguity. Much like her art, Lara is something of a shape-shifter herself, moving between the roles of artist, curator, musician, or writer whenever it suits her needs.


Colors:



Related works sharing similar palette

buZ Blurr, One Telling of the “Origin Story” at Straat Museum Amsterdam
© » BROOKLYN STREET ART

buZ Blurr, One Telling of the “Origin Story” at Straat Museum Amsterdam | Brooklyn Street Art BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY In the shifting culturescapes of urban contemporary art, STRAAT Museum’s latest exhibition, “Moniker: An Origin Story,” emerges as a poignant narrative that bridges the transient heritage of hobo monikers with the vibrant pulse of today’s street art scene...

Counsel for the month ahead.September 2018
© » EVEN MAGAZINE

Contemporary Muslim Fashions de Young Museum, San Francisco Opens September 22 On September 13, New York state will hold its primaries for the midterm elections, and on the Democratic ballot for governor is Cynthia Nixon: longtime activist, early supporter of mayor Bill de Blasio, and actor...

Lea Rasovszky – Dig the Inbetween book launch
© » THE RE:ART

Lea Rasovszky - Dig the Inbetween - The re:art Lea Rasovszky – Dig the Inbetween book launch On March 17th, 2017, Lea Rasovszky launched her book Dig the Inbetween, a collaboration with graphic designer Larisa Sitar and curator and art critic Diana Marincu , together with a one-night only exhibition at Mobius Gallery in Bucharest...

Pio Abad
© » KADIST

Pio Abad joins KADIST in residence for three months to conduct research into narratives of exile and displacement from the ’70s and ’80s that brought Filipinos to California...

Armless
© » KADIST

Chloe Piene

2005

The figure in Armless tapers away...

4 mourners on a mantel
© » KADIST

Gala Porras-Kim

2017

The graphite drawing 4 mourners on a mantel by Gala Porras-Kim is part of a larger installation and body of research, entitled An Index and Its Settings (Un Índice y Sus Entornos) , in which the artist reconsiders 235 ancient burial figures (from circa 200 BCE – 50 CE) from what is now Mexico’s Pacific coast that are part of the Proctor Stafford Collection held by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)...

Les Statues Meurent Aussi (Statues Also Die) (1953) and It for Others (2013)
© » KADIST

6pm – Les Statues Meurent Aussi (1953) 7pm – It for Others (2013) The second in a monthly series of double features exploring the relationship between cinema and contemporary video and performance art, Kadist screens Chris Marker and Alain Resnais’ 1953 film, Les Statues Meurent Aussi (Statues Also Die) (1953) and Duncan Campbell’s Turner Prize -winning film It for Others (2013)...

Decomposing Eternally
© » KADIST

George Pfau

2010

This work exemplifies George Pfau’s interest in zombies and liminal embodiment...

Weekly Picks: Singapore (1 – 7 April 2019)
© » ARTS EQUATOR

Weekly Picks: Singapore (1 - 7 April 2019) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Weekly To Do April 1, 2019 SOTA Open House 2019, School of the Arts, 6 April, 9am – 4pm Unleash your child’s creative potential at SOTA Open House 2019 Want to learn more about the arts-enhanced education in SOTA? Join us on Apr 6, 2019 (Saturday), 9am to 4pm, at the SOTA Open House for tours of our vibrant campus, talks with teachers and students, and hands-on demonstrations...

Dark clouds of the future
© » KADIST

Prabhakar Pachpute

2014

“Dark Clouds Of The Future” is a cinematographic video animation of the abandoned gold mine in Brazil, Serra Pelada (“Naked Mountain”)...

Collector Files Lawsuit to Prove Ownership of $7m Picasso after Attempted Sale Foes South - via The Art Newspaper
© » LARRY'S LIST

The prospective buyer failed to give anything beyond the down payment, the suit alleges, while at the holding warehouse, a string of suspicious custodial transfers began...

Untitled (Details from fictional realities)
© » KADIST

Matt Mullican

2018

Mullican’s Stick Figure Drawings depict characters reduced to their most basic graphic representation...

Yin-Ju Chen - Video Screening
© » KADIST

Presented in collaboration with San Francisco Cinematheque , this video screening event features current Kadist A...

Sélection galerie : Farnood Esbati chez Christian Berst
© » LE MONDE

Sélection galerie : Farnood Esbati chez Christian Berst Cet article vous est offert Pour lire gratuitement cet article réservé aux abonnés, connectez-vous Se connecter Vous n'êtes pas inscrit sur Le Monde ? Inscrivez-vous gratuitement Article réservé aux abonnés Sans titre (vers 2020), de Farnood Esbati...

Slowed-down Journey
© » KADIST

Roman Ondak

2003

As the caption purposely admits, these drawings were made by friends of Ondák’s at home in Slovakia asked to interpret places he has journeyed to...

Dérive
© » KADIST

Shen Yuan

2015

Through a seemingly haphazard layering of glass and porcelain, Dérive is part of a larger installation series that address borders and displacement...

50 Years Ago, She Broke Illustration’s Glass Ceiling
© » HYPERALLERGIC

50 Years Ago, Barbara Nessim Broke Illustration’s Glass Ceiling Skip to content Barbara Nessim, “A Maze From Above” (1970), pen and ink and watercolor on paper, 14 x 10 1/4 inches (all images courtesy Derek Eller Gallery unless noted otherwise) Artist, illustrator, and designer Barbara Nessim is one of very few women who found full-time work in the American editorial and commercial arts sphere during the 1960s...

Morvarid K — This too Shall Pass
© » SLASH PARIS

Morvarid K — This too Shall Pass — Bigaignon Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris Login Newsletter Twitter Facebook Morvarid K — This too Shall Pass — Bigaignon Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris English Français Home Events Artists Venues Magazine Videos Back Morvarid K — This too Shall Pass Exhibition Photography Vue de l’exposition Morvarid K, This too Shall Pass, 2023 © D...

Museum of Russian History on Bolotnaya Square
© » KADIST

Arseny Zhilyaev

2014

The Bolotnaya Battle Park Complex is the future home for the Museum of Russian History (M...

Charles Baudelaire
© » KADIST

Mary Reid Kelley

2015

Kelley’s 2015 portrait of the poet Charles Baudelaire is one of a series of poets, rappers, and other thinkers who have influenced the artist’s ideas about beauty, creativity, and expression...