MASP

Tuesday Smillie

Encontro/Join, 2019

  • Author:
    Tuesday Smillie
  • Bio:
    Boston, Estados Unidos, 1981
  • Title:
    Encontro/Join
  • Date:
    2019
  • Medium:
    Óleo, spray, latenjoula e alfinete sobre tecido
  • Dimensions:
    183,5 x 205,5 cm
  • Credit line:
    Doação Rose Setubal e Alfredo Setubal, no contexto da exposição Histórias das mulheres, histórias feministas , 2019
  • Object type:
    Pintura
  • Inventory number:
    MASP.10884
  • Photography credits:
    Eduardo Ortega

TEXTS



Tuesday Smillie creates works based on images of protests and collective actions of transfeminist, queer, and LGBTQI+ activist groups, as well as on works of literature that challenge gender roles. In Feminist Histories, Smillie presents three works from the Banners series, consisting of street protest banners. The durability and malleability of fabric make it an ideal medium for bearing protest messages. On her banners, Smillie overlaps different fabrics, prints, beads, embroidery, paint, and words. In Together (2017), the phrase “Together: strength in difference, safety in numbers” synthesizes one of the proposals of queer activism: through unity, people can feel safe in their differences. This reinforces the plurality of gender and sexuality, presenting these ideas as complex and fluid spectra. The work Again (2017) presents the phrase: “The razor blades we’ve swallowed will cut us again as we cough them up, to cut each other,” addressing the need to combat the reproduction of systems of oppression. Finally, Encontro/Join (2019), made especially for this exhibition, references Homi K. Bhabha’s book The Location of Culture (1998), which quotes African American writer Toni Morrison’s book Beloved in order to affirm a deep desire for social solidarity. The phrase “Looking for the Join” was affixed with safety pins and can be modified and translated according to the language of the place in which it will be read, establishing bonds and affections beyond national and linguistic borders.

— Isabella Rjeille, assistant curator, and Leonardo de Souza Gimenes Antiqueira, curatorial team member, MASP, 2019

Source: Adriano Pedrosa, Isabella Rjeille e Mariana Leme (eds.), Women’s histories, Feminist histories, São Paulo: MASP, 2019.



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