Grace Ndiritu Explained

Grace Ndiritu
Birth Date:June
Birth Place:Birmingham, England
Occupation:Visual artist
Notable Works:The Nightingale, Still Life, Healing the Museum, The Ark, COVERSLUT

Grace Ndiritu (born June, 1982) is a British-Kenyan visual artist.[1]

She likes to incorporate shamanic ritual and meditation in her art, to bring about human transformation. She was the winner of The Jarman Film Award in 2022.[2]

Education

Ndiritu studied textile art at Winchester School of Art, UK and De Ateliers, Amsterdam. Her teachers included Marlene Dumas, Steve McQueen, Tacita Dean and Stan Douglas.[3] [4]

Personal life

A result of this research was her ambitious post-internet living research/live art project, The Ark: Center For Interdisciplinary Experimentation,[5] that took place from 1 to 10 July 2017. Her ideas between the rural and urban have also been documented in Whitechapel Gallery's publication: Documents of Contemporary Art: The Rural (2019) MIT Press.[6]

Work

In 2012, Ndiritu began creating a new body of works under the title Healing The Museum.[7]

In 2019 Ndiritu led a group of museum directors, academics, activists and artists, in a reading group with meditation at the controversial Africa Museum in Tervuren, Belgium, as part of the conference Everything Passes Except the Past organized by Goethe Institut, on the restitution of objects and human remains from Europe back to Congo.[8] [9]

Ndiritu declared that 2020 was The Year of Black Healing. In honor of this, she led a year long programme of exhibitions, performances and talks in collaboration with institutions across the world, which was featured on The Sunday Times radio show with Mariella Frostrup and Elephant magazine.

Performance

In 2017 she was invited to give a talk on her work at Fondation Ricard in Paris, alongside other renown speakers such as Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev - director of Documenta 13 art exhibition and Fabrice Hergott - director of Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris.[10]

She has also written essays about museums and exhibition making, Healing The Museum (2016), Ways of Seeing: A New Museum Story for Planet Earth (2017) and Institutional Critique: Racism & Spiritual Practice in the art world (2019).[11] Her most ambitious shamanic performance to date, A Meal For My Ancestors: Healing The Museum, included staff members of the U.N., NATO and EU parliament, activists, and refugees at Thalielab, Brussels (2018). A briefing paper on climate change and refugees directly inspired by the performance, written by one of the participants, has now been published by the EU Parliament Research Services (May 2018).[12] To date Ndiritu's performances have taken place at Fundacion Tapies, Barcelona (2017),[13] Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers, Paris (2016),[14] Glasgow School of Art (2015),[15] Galveston Artist Residency Garden, Texas (2015),[16] Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw (2014),[17] Musee Chasse & Nature, Paris (2013),[18] Centre Pompidou, Paris (2013).[19]

Film/video

Her archive of over forty "hand-crafted" videos are largely held in the archive of LUX - British Artists Film/Video archive.[20] Notably her video The Nightingale has been shown during the 51st Venice Biennale (2005)[21] and is now housed the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.[22] Furthermore, her video Still Life White Textiles (2007) has been used as a reference in art appreciation and art history classes throughout colleges and universities since 2010.[23]

Photography

Since 2010, Ndiritu has been creating an encyclopaedic archive of images, entitled A Quest For Meaning (AQFM). It is a universal narrative, a creation story from the beginning of time. Told through photography, it tells "stories" between similarly disparate objects and events from the Big Bang until now, by conjuring up and making new connections between them. Closely connected to her interests in the moving image, the various themes in AQFM perpetually expand to create photographic constellations.[24] [25]

Painting

Ndiritu describes her method of painting as Post-Hippie Pop-Abstraction. It was used as the basis for her SWEATSHOP series of painting installations,[26] which look at the idea of the sweatshop from three juxtaposing yet overlapping angles: Indigenous Tribes who are producing culture and spirituality to feed the New Age movement in the West; The Art Studio - artists who are making objects to feed the art market; Third World countries - where poorly paid workers make products to feed the luxury fashion global consumer market.[27]

Research projects

COVERSLUT is a fashion and economic research project from Ndiritu founded in 2018. It focuses on dealing with issues of democracy, race, gender and class politics. It incorporates capitalist, pay what you can and ethical/environmental strategies into its economic framework. It is inspired by her own writings and thinkers such as Muhammad Yunus (micro loans), Charles Einstein (sacred economics), Vandava Shiva (economic feminism), and Stewart Brand (Whole Earth Catalog). Ndiritu's use of pay what you can in her own art practice has influenced several art institutions including Eastside Projects, Birmingham - Artists Led Multiverse Summit[28] and Kunsthal Ghent's[29] admission fee for their new building and Coventry Biennale, UK in 2019 - to adopt a pay what you can policy inspired by Ndiritu's ideas on institutional critique and structural change.

Writing

At age fourteen, Ndiritu was published by Oxford University Press.[30] More recently Ndiritu's experimental art writing has been published by Animal Shelter Journal Semiotext(e) MIT Press.[31]

Her political essays "A Call To White America: A Response to Donald J. Trump" (2016), "Notes To a White Left World: Activism in this Current Political Crisis" (2017), "Love in The Time of Trump: The Problematics of Kanye West" (2018)[11] and "The Healing of America" (2020)[32] are published online.

Her first book Dissent Without Modification[33] published by Bergen Kunsthall, Norway (2021) is a critical theory book, made up of research interviews with radical, progressive, forward-thinking women who started their careers in the 1990s. It is a post-hippie, skate, surf, street, neo-tribal book on youth culture.

Media coverage

In November 2021, Adrian Searle wrote a review for The Guardian praising Our Silver City 2094 and gave it four out of five stars.[34]

In April 2017, Ndiritu was interviewed for The Most Amazing People about death, love, art, grief, and River Phoenix.[35]

In 2014 she was named one of the "ten most important and influential artists under 40" by Apollo magazine in both their European and US issues.

In September 2014, Apollo magazine included Ndiritu in both their European and US "40 Under 40", an annual issue dedicated to the ten most important and influential artists under forty.[36] [37]

In 2011 Ndiritu's video Desert Storm (2004) was also compared to Titian's The Rape of Europa (1562), Delacroix's painting Death of Sardanapalus (1827), Goya's Disasters of War series of drawings and Gentileschi's painting Susanna and the Elders (1610), by Caroline Bagenal for Afterimage magazine.[38]

Exhibitions

Ndiritu's work is also housed in museum collections such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, British Council, London, Metropolitan Museum of Art,[39] New York and Modern Art Museum, Warsaw. Her work is also in the private collection of King Mohammed VI, Morocco, as well as The Walther Collection.[40]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Grace Ndiritu . MutualArt . 10 September 2021 . 10 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210910195209/https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Grace-Ndiritu/AFE8272DA8F1D269 . live .
  2. Web site: Elizabeth Fullerton . Grace Ndiritu's invitation to 'shamanic journeys' wins Jarman award . 2022-12-19 . the Guardian . November 22, 2022.
  3. Web site: van den Boogerd . Dominic . 2016 . De Ateliers Guest Tutors . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160817005850/http://www.de-ateliers.nl/en/guidance/studio-visits/list-of-guest-teachers . 17 August 2016 . 20 July 2016 . www.de-ateliers.nl/ . De Ateliers . English, Dutch . Amsterdam.
  4. News: Jansen . Charlotte . May 6, 2023 . Artist Grace Ndiritu: 'Since the pandemic, people are more receptive to healing' . Financial Times . June 13, 2023.
  5. Web site: Grace Ndiritu . Thearkcenterexperiment.com . 26 February 2022 . 24 December 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211224021221/http://thearkcenterexperiment.com/ . live .
  6. Book: The Rural | the MIT Press . 12 March 2019 . MIT Press . 9780262537162 . Whitechapel: Documents of Contemporary Art . 28 January 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190117162316/http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/rural . 17 January 2019 . live.
  7. Web site: 25 September 2020 . Western Museums Are Problematic: What Can be Done to Change Them? . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201020143649/https://elephant.art/grace-ndiritu-on-how-western-museums-can-change-25092020/ . 20 October 2020 . 22 October 2020.
  8. Web site: Atelier: Tout passe sauf le passé - Goethe-Institut Belgien. 15 May 2019. 26 February 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220226163400/https://www.goethe.de/ins/be/fr/ver.cfm?event_id=21542499&fuseaction=events.detail. live.
  9. Web site: About Grace Ndiritu. gracendiritu.com/. cargo. 15 May 2016. 5 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160505201323/http://www.gracendiritu.com/. live.
  10. Web site: "Le sens de l'Histoire", Grace Ndiritu. 28 June 2017. 4 August 2017. 5 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170805015436/https://www.franceculture.fr/conferences/fondation-dentreprise-ricard/le-sens-de-lhistoire-grace-ndiritu. live.
  11. Web site: Grace Ndiritu - Academia.edu. 20 July 2016. 2 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181102093847/http://independent.academia.edu/GraceNdiritu. live.
  12. Web site: The Concept of Climate Refugee: Towards a Possible Solution . 1 June 2018 . 26 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220226163413/https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5w_w1Ihy06bcF9GakkwSlI4akxZNjJVWEN2T1VyWEx5OW1r/view . live .
  13. Web site: FUNDACIÓ TÀPIES / Soñando que el museo vuelve a la vida: La vida interior de los objetos – Barcelonadot . 4 August 2017 . 5 August 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170805055821/http://www.barcelonadot.com/fundacio-tapies-sonando-que-el-museo-vuelve-a-la-vida-la-vida-interior-de-los-objetos/ . dead .
  14. Web site: Les Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers. A Therapeutic Townhall Meeting: Healing the Museum. 2016. 15 May 2016. 5 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170805015804/http://www.leslaboratoires.org/en/article/a-therapeutic-townhall-meeting-healing-the-museum-by-grace-ndiritu/le-printemps-des-laborato. live.
  15. Web site: Glasgow School of Art, Reid Gallery. A Return to Normalcy: Birth of a New Museum. 15 May 2016. 29 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160629173041/http://www.gsa.ac.uk/life/gsa-events/events/g/grace-ndiritu-a-return-to-normalcy-birth-of-a-new-museum/. live.
  16. Web site: Schnell. Eric. Island Time: Galveston Artist Residency – The First Four Years. camh.org. Contemporary Art Museum Houston. Texas. English. 2015. 20 July 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160531123015/http://camh.org/exhibitions/island-time-galveston-artist-residency-%E2%80%93-first-four-years#.V49C97h9602. 31 May 2016. dead.
  17. Web site: Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw. Spring Rites: Birthing of a New Museum (Part 1). 15 May 2016. 5 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170805021826/https://www.britishcouncil.pl/en/events/performance-grace-ndiritu. live.
  18. Web site: Musee Chasse & Nature, Paris. Women Who Run with Wolves. 2013. 15 May 2016. 5 October 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151005022235/http://www.gracendiritu.com/Performance/Musee-Chasse-Nature-Paris-2013. live.
  19. Web site: Centre Pompidou, Paris. For a Shamanic Cinema: alternative strategies in the practice of performance. 2013. 15 May 2016. 5 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170805015726/https://www.centrepompidou.fr/cpv/resource/cidxqr/rKEeLj. live.
  20. Web site: Ndiritu. Grace. LUX Artists Moving Image. lux.org.uk. LUX. London. English. 20 July 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160804003451/http://lux.org.uk/collection/artists/grace-ndiritu. 4 August 2016. dead.
  21. Book: Ndiritu. Grace. Grace Ndiritu. 2005. Ikon Gallery Ltd. Birmingham. 1-904864-09-0. 14. 20 July 2016. 19 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160419032516/http://chisenhale.org.uk/shop/publication_details.php?id=14. live.
  22. Book: LaGamma. Alicia. Giuntini. Christine. Essential art of African textiles. 2008. Yale University Press. New Haven. 9780300149623. English. 244293227.
  23. Book: Sayre. Henry M. A World of Art. 2010. Pearson, Prentice Hall. London. 9780205887576. 6th, 7th. English. 20 July 2016. 24 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160124020624/http://www.alibris.com/A-World-of-Art-Henry-M-Sayre/book/7306803. live.
  24. Web site: Caldwell. Ellen C.. New American Painting. newamericanpaintings.com. New American Painting. Boston. English. April 2016. 20 July 2016. 21 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200921031926/https://www.newamericanpaintings.com/blog/slippery-space-grace-ndiritu%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cbright-young-things%E2%80%9D. live.
  25. News: Laurence. Robin. Time travels in Contemporary Art Gallery's Blue Hour. 12 April 2018. The Georgia Straight. 11 April 2018. Grace Ndiritu. 13 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180413043801/https://www.straight.com/arts/1056341/time-travels-contemporary-art-gallerys-blue-hour. live.
  26. Web site: Reid Gallery. Workers: Post-Hippie Pop-Abstraction (2015). 2015. 15 May 2016. 22 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160622062052/http://www.gracendiritu.com/Painting/Workers-Post-Hippie-Pop-Abstraction-2015. live.
  27. d'Ettorre. Benedetta. A Return to Normalcy: Birth of a New Museum - Curating Contemporary Art. www.academia.edu . Academia. Royal College of Art. 2016. 4 December 2017.
  28. Web site: Artist Run Multiverse Summit. 28 January 2019. 29 January 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190129181315/https://eastsideprojects.org/events/artist-led-multiverse-summit/. live.
  29. Web site: Archived copy . 28 January 2019 . 29 January 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190129010012/https://kunsthal.gent/files/users_manual_en.pdf . dead .
  30. Book: Lockwood. Lockwood. The Oxford English Programme 4A: National Curriculum Key Stage 4 Bk.4. 1992. Oxford University Press. Oxford. 0198311761. 20 July 2016. 5 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170805064253/https://www.abebooks.de/products/isbn/9780198311768/19082578027. live.
  31. Book: El Kholti.. Hedi. Animal Shelter. 2013. Semiotexte. US. 9781584351320. Issue 3. 20 July 2016. 5 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305120919/http://www.art-agenda.com/shows/animal-shelter-issue-3-by-semiotexte/. live.
  32. Web site: The Healing of America (Grace Ndiritu). 18 January 2021. 20 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210120024126/https://fillip.ca/content/the-healing-of-america. live.
  33. Web site: Dissent Without Modification . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220207192557/https://www.dissentwithoutmodification.com/ . 7 February 2022 . 26 February 2022 . Dissent Without Modification.
  34. News: Searle . Adrian . Fire, flood and frozen goldfish: Our Silver City 2094 reveals Nottingham's future – review . The Guardian . 23 November 2021 . en . 16 December 2021 . 16 December 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211216145743/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/nov/23/our-silver-city-2094-review-nottingham-contemporary . live .
  35. Web site:
    1. TMAP0015 - Grace N. [Full Episode]
    ]. Most Amazing People Interview. August 2017. 16 August 2017. 26 February 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220226163408/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjUADJ1HiMs. live.
  36. 40 Under 40 Europe. Apollo. 2014. July/August. English. The most inspirational young people in the European art world. 20 July 2016. 28 July 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160728001626/http://www.apollo-magazine.com/40-40-europe/. live.
  37. 40 Under 40 USA. Apollo . 2015. September. The most inspirational young people in the US art world. 20 July 2016. 28 July 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160728213045/http://www.apollo-magazine.com/40-40-usa/. live.
  38. Bagenal. Caroline. Ravishing Beauty: The Aesthetics of Rape in Grace Ndiritu's video Desert Storm. Afterimage. 2011. The Aesthetics of Rape. 39. gracendiritu.com/Press-Reviews/Afterimage-Magazine-The-Aesthetics-of-Rape-2011. Visual Studies Workshop. Rochester, New York. English. 20 July 2016. 13 May 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170513075433/http://vsw.org/afterimage/issues/afterimage-vol-39-no-1-2/. dead.
  39. Web site: Alisa La Gamma . 2009 . The Nightingale . 20 July 2016 . metmuseum.org . The Metropolitan Museum of Art . Met Collection Accession Number: 2009.375 . New York.
  40. Web site: Grace Ndiritu: A Quest For Meaning Vol. 7: Bright Young Things Klowden Mann Artsy. www.artsy.net. en. 26 March 2018. 27 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180327023711/https://www.artsy.net/show/klowden-mann-grace-ndiritu-a-quest-for-meaning-vol-7-bright-young-things. live.

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