Hito Steyerl: Contemporary Cave Art

By Matthew Biro

JUNE 2023 | ArtSeen

Because it appears as part of a larger environment, Steyerl’s film cannot be understood apart from the multimedia installation of which it is a part. At Esther Schipper, where the show is called Contemporary Cave Art, the video is part of a labyrinthian cave with multiple screens showing animated paleolithic paintings moving slowly on rock walls.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

By Rona Lorimer

MAY 2022 | Field Notes

The French presidential elections brought what many were dreading, a standoff between what has long been called the “authoritarian liberalism” of Emmanuel Macron and the “avowed fascism” of Marine Le Pen.

Steffani Jemison’s A Rock, A River, A Street

By Tara Aisha Willis

MARCH 2023 | Art Books

Reading A Rock, A River, A Street is like finding a way through an enigmatic moment of performance: the body is the thing that connects feelings and experiences, moves us through them. It is a train of thought, a largely unvoiced internal monologue to which we are given partial access.

Troy Montes-Michie’s Rock of Eye

By Megan N. Liberty

FEB 2022 | Art Books

These collages use the multiple interpretations and histories of the stitch to explore masculinity, sexuality, and marginal identities. In a moment when conversations around the policing of Black bodies in public space continue to grow and gain momentum, Montes-Michie’s quiet scenes of interiority dramatically change the context.