Darkest Before Dawn: Art in a time of Uncertainty
What do Pablo Picasso’s Guernica (1937), Alfredo Jaar’s Rwanda Project (1994-98), Teresa Serrano’s Amapola (2017), and Yoko Ono’s Dream Together (2020) have in common? They individually focus on traumatic events such as, respectively, the bombing of a Spanish city, genocide in Rwanda, drug wars and femicide in a Mexican city that borders the USA, and the current Covid-19, global pandemic. Each work cited, of which there are many more in the history of art with similar themes, is characterized by a unique aesthetic that doesn’t diminish any of its content but rather impacts the viewer in direct or oblique ways. It can be, however, ostensibly problematic to ponder these works as art because of the very nature of their subject matter; and this is not unlike Susan Sontag’s Regarding the Pain of Others (2003) and its thesis of art’s innate difficulty in addressing catastrophe to those who do not directly experience it.
Darkest Before Dawn: Art in a Time of Uncertainty is an exhibition of international artists that work in diverse media including painting, sculpture, photography, video, sound art and performance that explores a myriad of topical subject matter in a world of uncertainty. And similar to the exhibition’s title culled from the eponymous aphorism of a 17th century theologian, the exhibited artworks equally offer hope and, akin to an enlightening dawn, to break through one of the darkest moments we currently find ourselves in our collective, human history.
Image: Yigal Ozeri, Black Lives Matter (detail), Oil on Canvas, 2020
Artist List:
Aboudia | Caron Tabb | Hugh Hayden | Lara Birgit Kamhi | Raul De Lara |
Ai Weiwei | Chanika Svetvilas | Isaac Aden | Lev Bourliot | Rachel Wren |
Airan Kang | Chi Ming | Ivalyo Hristov | Lionel Cruet | Ricardo Ruiz |
Ana Wang | Chie Fueki | Jackie Shatz | Liu Xiaohui | Robert Aitchison |
Avelino Sala | Christy Bencosme | Jake Couri | Liu Xiaodong | Robert Brush |
Aileen Bassis | Chris D'Acunto | James Donaldson | Linda Suskind | Rose Frisenda |
Alan Richards | Claire HarnEnz | James Greco | Linda Vigdor | Rose Silberman-Gorn |
Alejandro Avakian | Colin Lyons | Jae Won Jung | Logan Benedict | Rotem Reshef |
Alejandro Dron | Dahlia Elsayed | Jay Goldberg | Lorryn Moore | Ry An |
Alejandro Loureiro Lorenzo | Dalila Pasotti | Jean Christophe Couet | Louise Segev | Ryoga Katsuma |
Alexandr Razin | David Buckingham | jdx | Lynnette Sauer | Sami Elderazi |
Alexis de Chaunac | Davis Birks | Jeanne Ciravolo | Mandy Cano Villalobos | Sandra Eula Lee |
Alexis Duque | Deshawn Dumas | Jeannette Doyle | Marcus Glitteris | Sara Farrell Okamura |
Alan Richards | Diane Dwyer | Jeannie Weissglass | Margaret Roleke | Sara Holt |
Ali Shrago-Spechler | Doi Kim | Jeffrey Hargrave | Maria Baker | Sara Sun |
Alison Cuomo | Dominique Vitali | Jeramy Turner | Mariana Oushiro | Sadie Bridges |
Alx Orphant | Eduardo Corral | Jerry Chan | Mariella Bisson | Sari Tervaniemi |
Ami Park | Eirini Linardaki | Jimmy Connelly | Marina Reiter | Scott Roberts |
Andrea LaRose | Elisabeth Ajtay | Jim Peters | Mark Augustine | Sean P Gallagher |
Andrew Keiper & Kei Ito | Eliza Stamps | Joan Lebold Cohen | Martin Durazo & Kristin Bauer | Shahram Entekhabi |
Angela Santana | Elizabeth Withstandley | Johan Wahlstrom | Matilda Forsberg | Shane Morrissey |
Ann Cofta | Elizabeth Demaray | Johanna Ryan | Megan Nugroho & Harrison Bruhn | Shanna Merola |
Anna Friemoth | Emil Alzamora | John Lark | Milo | Sharon Draghi |
Anna Poor | Emily Barletta | John Hampshire | Mina Cheon | Sherry Kerlin |
Anne Spence | Emma McCagg | Jon Tsoi | Michael Zelehoski | Sheryl Renee Dobson |
Anthony Sylva | Enne Tesse | Joshua Marsh | Michele Colburn | Shi Chong |
Ilaria Ferraro | Eric Doeringer | Joseph Ayers | Michelle Peters | Sicheng Wang |
Arlene Rush | Erik Bergrin | Juhee Kang | Monsieur Zohore | SeungTack Lim |
Austin Stiegemeier | Erin Hudak | Kate Fauvell | Michael Tarbi | Stacy Arezou Mehrfar |
Avery Cefre | Ezra Wube | Katherina Ganchak | Mike Filan | Stephen Morrison |
b chehayeb | Fanny Allie | Kathline Carr | Miguel Rodriguez Sepulveda | Susan Hoffman Fishman |
Basmat Levin | Fabian Marcaccio | Katina Bitsicas | Naoto Nakagawa | Sui Jianguo |
Becky Brown | Ferran Martin | Katrina Slavik | Nell Breyer | Tadasuke Jinno |
Ben DuVall | Francis Ofshafskie | Katya Kan | Niki Kriese | Tana Kellner |
Benjamin Staker | Gabriel Shuldiner | Kim Faler | Niho Kozuru | Taylor Stewart |
Bev Butkow | Gan Yu | Kirk Wang | Natalie Tyler | Tom Costa |
Bianca Kann | Gavin Benjamin | Klaus Bauhaus | Paul Ayihawu | Tongji Philip Qian |
Bridget Leslie | Greg Haberny | Kenneth Burris | Paul Loughney | Travis Childers |
Brian McSherry | Hannah Antalek | Kyle Goen | Paul Paiement | Tian Hui |
Buket Savci | Hannah Morris | Lance Johnson | Paul Thomas | William Santen |
Bundith Phunsombatlert | Heather Renee Russ | Lang Ea | Poppy DeltaDawn | Uchenna Odukwe |
Cai Shen | Howard Skrill | Lan Zhenghui | Priscilla Marrero | Yigal Ozeri |
Carmella Gullo | Hideyo Okamura | Laura J. Stein | Qin Feng | Zhang Xiao Mao |
Caroline Dranow | Lauren Vroegindewey | Rachel Walker | Zhang Yanzi | |
Caroline Blum | Lee Holin | Zhang Hongtu |