The House of Confluence: Bricolage

This group exhi­bi­tion show­cas­es the works of five of RU’s artists in res­i­dence: Cecil­ia Bar­reto (Mex­i­co), Shia Roan Con­lon (Fin­land), Gjorgji Despodov (North Mace­do­nia), R.B van Heesch (Nether­lands), and David Přílučík (Czech Repub­lic). This exhi­bi­tion is curat­ed by RU Guest Cura­tor Data Chigh­o­lashvili.

Brico­lage is a loan­word from French that relates to the exhi­bi­tion not with its direct trans­la­tion, but con­cep­tu­al­ly through its mul­ti­fac­eted under­stand­ing in arts, human­i­ties, and social sci­ences. It con­nects with The House of Con­flu­ence by reflect­ing on inter­na­tion­al exchanges in the arts, and in this process, bring­ing res­i­den­cy group shows togeth­er to offer new insights. More­over, brico­lage here is seen as world­mak­ing (intro­duced by Nel­son Good­man), more in a sense where­in cul­ture and mean­ings are (re)considered in flux, as lived expe­ri­ences that crit­i­cal­ly build on exist­ing sym­bols, knowl­edge, and imag­i­na­tions to cre­ate new under­stand­ings and direc­tions. Through dif­fer­ent top­ics and approach­es found in the art­works, the exhi­bi­tion pro­pos­es a diver­si­ty in world­mak­ing. In this brico­lage, vis­i­tors and artists alike find revis­it­ing sym­bols and charts, rep­re­sent­ing per­son­al or imag­i­nary worlds, address­ing less-known sto­ries, and explor­ing frag­ments of reliefs or land­scapes – aspects that flow and dif­fer­ent­ly emerge in the works, cre­at­ing inter­con­nec­tions con­cern­ing the com­plex­i­ty of how we make the (sense of) world around us.

About The House of Con­flu­ence, RU’s 2024 pro­gram­ming on Gov­er­nors Island: Art res­i­den­cies are like con­flu­ences – peo­ple from dif­fer­ent places trav­el, gath­er, and work for some time, and var­i­ous ideas, approach­es, and prac­tices flow with each oth­er. NYC, a unique urban con­flu­ence, has bod­ies of water flow­ing around, and Gov­er­nors Island is locat­ed where many of them confluence. 

RU is one of the 2024 Gov­er­nors Island Arts Orga­ni­za­tions in Res­i­dence.