NYAB Event - “Déjà Vu” Exhibition

“Déjà Vu” Exhibition

NOoSPHERE

This event has ended.

NOoSPHERE Arts’ long-time collaborator Art for Progress (AFP) announces a group exhibition of new works by artists from New York City, Los Angeles, Spain and Israel. The show spans a variety of mediums tackling the theme of déjà vu. The term can be described as “a feeling of having already experienced the present situation” or “a tedious familiarity.”It first appeared in a 1928 publication entitled a Text for Psychology. Since then, the topic of déjà vu has been addressed from the big screen to Sci-Fi novels. It is a concept and sensation that has captivated audiences for generations, and in this exhibit AFP hopes to push the boundaries of this phenomenon.

In this show, the concept of déjà vu is explored from several vantage points, from ideas of storytelling to an affective feeling. This exhibition seeks to both comment on this topic and to rethink the way in which it has been socio-culturally situated. Déjà vu has come to occupy a very specific place within popular culture and this exhibition aims to build on that while also carving out new meaning for it.

Local activist artists Essam and gilf! are creating installation pieces in response to the theme. In the gallery’s outdoor space, Essam will install one Res Judicata drone for viewers to get a sense of the scale of these objects and to also feel their presence. Drawing on Dr. Cornell West’s call surrounding National Mass Incarceration Awareness Month, Brooklyn-based artist gilf! will wear an inmate jumpsuit for the entire month of October in an effort to examine our prison system. By engaging with the public and creating dialogue about these hidden atrocities she hopes to spur more awareness around this topic. The artist will use the jumpsuits as canvases, centering on self-isolation and the public’s reactions to visually reflect the emotional and mental states she experiences throughout the month. Several of the jumpsuits will be part of the Déjà vu exhibition.

The feeling of déjà vu is something all of the artists have personally experienced and this is reflected in their work. Margaret Withers says: “Our capacity to make sense of something is rooted in storytelling…we come to see life as layered stories that fold together to make up our identity.” Bill Claps investigates the theme in a slightly different way in his recent series called It’s All Derivative. He writes: “These images are all glimpses from the past, re-interpreted in a perpetual art historical chain of visual déjà vu.” Claps’s interpretation of déjà vu touches on issues of memory and perception and the way in which this relates to art.

Other artists such as Lichiban and Ted Barr took a more personal approach to the theme. Lichiban explains: “These pieces relate to the theme very intimately. They are characters of a story which reference memory, creative imagination, past lives and spiritual seeking.” Barr described déjà vu as “not a moment of revelation but a moment of recognition that the journey of life is not a straight line.”