Engaging themes of ritualism and alchemy as a response to cultural and political strife, A Charm Against All That presents works “as a tool for deflecting precarity”, the show text reads. On view until March 14 at Projects+Gallery in St Louis (Missouri, USA), the collective exhibition’s pieces deconstruct and recontextualise popular mythologies, serve as ritualistic charms, or reflect on moments of anxiety and isolation that often accompany contemporary life.
“In all of the exhibited works, the artist is both vulnerable civilian and alchemical trickster, capable of moving between the onslaught of the everyday and the possibility of creative action”, the exhibition text explains. Exploring the impulse toward the magical and the occult in response to catastrophic cultural circumstances, A Charm Against All That engages with political and spiritual issues through the works of artists like Brandon Anschultz, Hélène Delprat, Charline von Heyl, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Harley Lafarrah Eaves, Chris Burden, Marilyn Minter and Farrokh Mahdavi, among others. Divided into two different spaces – the main gallery curated by Jessica Baran, and the rear gallery curated by Margaret Sherer – it shines a light on issues pressing contemporary society at large and shows how art and artists provide with alternatives or possible solutions.
The exhibition A Charm Against All That is on view until March 14 at Projects+Gallery, 4733 McPherson Avenue, Saint Louis (MO), United States.
Harley Lafarrah Eaves. Thematic Plot Points In The Wizard Of Oz From Childhood Memories, 2018. Image courtesy of Projects+Gallery.
Hélène Delprat. Lost Sleeping Beauty, 2018. Image courtesy of Projects+Gallery.
Trenton Doyle Hancock. Blue Bald Voice Effects, 2008. Image courtesy of Projects+Gallery.
Vodun Fetish Object. Mid-20th Century Fon people of Benin. Image courtesy of Projects+Gallery.