Don't Hold Back! After Hours Celebrates Opening of Abstract Resistance Exhibition on February 26
A Walker Art Center
After Hours Preview Party
celebrates the opening of Abstract Resistance from 9 pm–12 midnight on Friday, February 26. The new exhibition features now-legendary figures as well as younger artists who have revolted against the aesthetic orthodoxies of their times. The evening, sponsored by Target, features performances by Kill the Vultures and Sovietpanda; screenings of films by director George Landow; an art-making activity; cash bars; Wolfgang Puck appetizers; and Party People Pictures to immortalize the evening. Tickets are $35 ($25 Walker members), and are available at walkerart.org or by calling 612.375.7600 (includes one complimentary drink). Tickets are limited; advance purchase recommended.
With works ranging from the 1950s to a brand-new commission, the exhibition Abstract Resistance brings together now-legendary figures as well as younger artists. While these pieces do not conform to a single theme, they are united in challenging what is expected of art, from the way it looks to the role it plays in society at large. The show considers “resistance” as a complex formal and political force, as is suggested by the title it borrows from a featured sculpture by Thomas Hirschhorn. Ultimately, Abstract Resistance proposes an alternative framework for aesthetically inventive, ethically engaged, and politically defiant art.
Walker After Hours/Preview Party
Friday, February 26, 9 pm–12 midnight
$35 ($25 Walker members)
Tickets: 612.375.7600 or visit walkerart.org
New members may choose one free ticket for joining, while tickets remain.
Exhibition Preview:
Abstract Resistance
Galleries 4, 5, 6
Borrowing its title from one of the exhibition’s key works, an installation by Thomas Hirschhorn, Abstract Resistance presents work by such artists as Francis Bacon, Robert Motherwell, Kara Walker, and Andro Wekua.
Art Activity
Comply or Resist
Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab, 9:15–11:30 pm
Explore the conflicting relationship between abstraction and figuration in this physical drawing experiment.
Screenings: George Landow X 2
Lecture Room, 9:30 and 10:30 pm
American filmmaker George Landow created two short films that take a wide swipe at the experimental film movement of the early 1970s while embracing its form. Wide Angle Saxon includes a parody of Hollis Frampton’s 1971 (nostalgia)—installed in the Abstract Resistance exhibition—called Regrettable Redding Condescension (alluding to Landow’s own 1971 Remedial Reading Comprehension, which screens first in this program). His fictional film-within-a-film is credited in turn to “Al Rutcurts” (the word “structural” spelled backwards). Program length: 27 minutes.
Performance: Sovietpanda
Cargill Lounge, 9:30–11:30 pm
After starting the Too Much Love dance party at First Avenue in 2006, Sovietpanda, with his beat-happy blend of forward-thinking electronic music and reverence for classic dance music, has become one of the most celebrated DJs in the Twin Cities.
Performance: Kill the Vultures
Gallery 8, 10–11:30 pm
Filled with tribal beats, old-school jazz loops, and beat poet/rap vocals, Kill the Vultures creates gritty soundscapes with an urban-noir sensibility. Crescent Moon drops surreal imagery and street truths in the same breath while Anatomy’s hard-boiled sample pallet utilizes drums, upright bass, strings, horns, and live instrumentation.
Party People Pictures
Cargill Lounge, 9 pm–12 midnight
Stop by the Party People Photo Booth to document your experience, then find your face on the wall. View all photos at www.flickr.com/groups/walkerafterhours.