I’m Not Here. An Exhibition Without Natalie Ward.
“Maybe you don’t need to see the work, you just need to hear about it.”
[In process / from Statement] This is a solo exhibition that takes the form of a group exhibition in which works evoke the atmosphere of the work of an absent self, but the show will not contain literal illustrations of my oeuvre or specific aspects of my practice. By shifting the spotlight from a well-established format to related artistic practices, this exhibition not only seeks to redistribute agency, but also engender a critical interrogation of the format of the ‘solo show’.
Many of the works in the exhibition are minor interventions or poetic gestures, which will ultimately be “distributed” as rumours or linger as hearsay. Through their ephemeral and minimalist characters, these works share an affinity with my way of working, but a deeper reading hopefully reveals deviation of, variation in relation to or even confrontation with my standard practice.
My question: is documentation the only valid means of reviving or representing once-only occurrences? Separately, there is an attempt to interrogate the nature of a “real” encounter with performances on a personal level or in a particular situation. And still other pieces will question the meaning of minor interventions in an institutional context and in the public sphere, and explore the limits of political efficacy when their singular gestures are infused with a broader social meaning.
