Adelita Husni-Bey: Movement Break
The first solo exhibition in the United States by KADIST Artist in Residence Adelita Husni-Bey , Movement Break addresses how capitalist imperatives condition us to perform unsustainably as individual subjects. This ideology makes us agents of a ‘success story’ that de-politicizes pain and pushes our bodies to their literal breaking points. Central to exhibition is After the Finish Line , a film produced for the exhibition and developed in collaboration with a group of teenage athletes who have all experienced injury as a result of their respective sporting activities. Through radical pedagogical practice, a process that attempts to de-individualize feelings of failure, Adelita and the athletes recorded and wrote about their experiences, discussing the meaning and trappings of competition—in particular, where desires for success stem from. Alongside the film, Movement Break attempts to remediate our relationship to pain, the body and a shared condition of oppression through a series of group physical therapy sessions examining the pressure to compete and succeed under capitalism. The sessions aim to create a thread between how our bodies ‘hurt’ and how we are conditioned to treat them socially or politically. Co-authored by Adelita Husni-Bey and physical therapist Caron Bush, the sessions are free and offered in tandem with an individual consultation with the artist. To take part in the sessions, interested participants must RSVP . Adelita Husni-Bey (Italy-Libya,1985) is an artist and pedagogue based in New York. Her practice is based on workshops in which she explores contemporary social topics with participants who collaborate critically in shaping the outcome. Husni-Bey is a graduate of Goldsmiths University (2009) and the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program (2012). Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions such as Playing Truant, Gasworks, London (2012), Undiscovered Worlds, the High Line, New York (2015), Really Useful Knowledge, Reina Sofia museum, Madrid (2014), Utopia for Sale?, MAXXI museum, Rome (2014) and TRACK, S. M. A. K museum, Ghent. Her work has received praise from international newspapers such as the Guardian, El Pais and Il Corriere della Sera, as well as specialised media such as Frieze Magazine and Artforum. She has lectured on her practice at the London School of Economics, the New School in New York and the Dutch Art Institute amongst other institutions.