Woman on woman creative collaboration – Knight Foundation
Arts

Woman on woman creative collaboration

One of the most intriguing exhibits opening up this peak art month involves five works from 10 women, paired in twos, called “Woman to Woman” at the Bakehouse Art Complex. A curatorial committee chose five artists, who were then asked to pick a collaborator. Elizabeth Cerejido joined Mia Leonin, Julie Davidow worked with Carol Prusa, Vickie Pierre chose Sara Stites, Samantha Salzinger picked Francie Bishop Good and Felice Grodin joined Michelle Weinberg. Those are some groupings rich with talent.

The result is a variety of work in various media, from video to sculpture. One video piece is particularly poignant, the video collaboration between Cerejido, a photographer, and Leonin, a poet (and the only non-visual artist in the show), called “Dislodged.” It’s based on the Surrealist game the Exquisite Corpse, where one person writes something on a piece of paper and passes it to another, who adds his or her own thoughts. For this video, text, poetry, imagery and sound emerged from the Exquisite dialogue between the two.

Both women recently lost their mothers, which was a foundation to both their creative and grieving process. The title comes from the acclaimed Joan Didion book about the death, after that of her husband, where she writes: “After my mother died I received a letter from a friend in Chicago . . . who precisely intuited what I felt. ‘The death of a parent,’ he wrote, ‘despite our preparation, indeed, despite our age, dislodges things deep in us, sets off reactions that surprise us and that may cut free memories and feelings that we had thought gone to ground long ago.’”

The opening night will include a live performance from The State Of, and all the studios will be open. There will also be extra opening hours during Art Basel Miami Beach.

“Woman to Woman” opens on Saturday, Nov. 26 at the Bakehouse Art Complex, 561 N.W. 32nd St; for special hours and events (including breakfasts) in the next weeks, go to www.bacfl.org.