Jeannette Ehlers’ hypnotic video work Black Bullets now on display at Touch exhibition
Black Bullets is an homage to the Haitian revolution of 1791. On the black-and-white video work, dark human figures walk in a line across the video nonstop to the beat of a drone-like soundscape. As they walk, the figures gradually merge into their reflections and finally disappear into the horizon. The work has been filmed against the Haitian sky on a mountain-top fortalso known as a symbol for the emancipation from slavery. The fort was built by the first black Haitian monarch Henri Christophe, after the revolution at the start of the 19th century to defend the independent Haiti against the French.
“Jeannette Ehlers’ Black Bullets is a hypnotic and minimalist piece, whichhas a powerful influence beyond its historical starting points. Themes of power dynamics and the battle against oppression strongly link the work to this day,” describes Laura Kokkonen, curator of the Touch exhibition.
Jeannette Ehlers (b. 1973) is a Danish-Trinidadian artist known for utilising image manipulation and her own body to address memory, structures of racism and colonialism in her works. Black Bullets is a reminder of the slaveryin Haitipracticed by colonial France,known as one of the cruelest periods of forced labour. The Haitian revolution is the only successful revolution by enslaved Africans in history and set the scene for Haiti’s independence in 1804. In her work, Ehlers highlights that history is not the past – colonialism can still be seen through the distribution of power and resources, both globally and in the Nordics.
Black Bullets is the second work in the media artseries as a part of Listening to Silenceof the Touch exhibition, which opened in autumn 2021. The works of the section explore the different dimensions of humans’ inner world, including past events, traumas and ways of processing them. After Black Bullets, the series welcomes its final work in the autumn, The Fantastic by Maija Blåfield.
Keywords
Contacts
Iris SuomiMarkkinointiviestinnän suunnittelija / Marketing Communications Designer
Tel:+358447601930iris.suomi@emmamuseum.fiImages
Links
About EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art
EMMA – Espoon modernin taiteen museon kokoelma- ja näyttelytoiminta profiloituu kotimaiseen ja kansainväliseen modernismiin, nykytaiteeseen sekä designiin. EMMA sijaitsee Espoon Tapiolassa, professori Aarno Ruusuvuoren suunnittelemassa betoniarkkitehtuuria edustavassa Näyttelykeskus WeeGeessä. Näyttelytilat ovat pinta-alaltaan Suomen suurimmat, ja pelkistetty moderni arkkitehtuuri tukee EMMAn, Saastamoisen säätiön ja Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk Säätiön kokoelmien sekä vaihtuvien näyttelyiden kokemuksellista esittämistä. Tervetuloa!
@emmamuseum
Subscribe to releases from EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art
Subscribe to all the latest releases from EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art
Experiments in Concretism at EMMA offers spatial experiences, powerful colours and geometric shapes5.3.2024 10:00:00 EET | Press release
Experiments in Concretism launches the spring season at EMMA by exploring the various forms and experiential nature of concrete art. The exhibition charts the broad spectrum of concretism through a dialogue between different modes of expression, material diversity and playfulness. The exhibition is curated from art in EMMA’s collections and includes works by more than 50 artists from the 1950s to the present day, as well as new commissions. The exhibition also celebrates the centenary of the birth of Lars-Gunnar ‘Nubben’ Nordström (1924–2014), a pioneer of concrete art in Finland.
Konkretismens experiment som öppnar på EMMA erbjuder rumsliga upplevelser samt geometriska formers och färgers kraft5.3.2024 10:00:00 EET | Tiedote
Konkretismens experiment inleder EMMAs utställningsvår genom att lyfta fram den konkreta konstens mångsidighet och upplevelsefylldhet. Utställningen granskar konkretismens breda mångfald i en dialog mellan olika uttrycksformer, materiell variation och lekfullhet. Helheten har kurerats ur EMMAs samlingar och den omfattar verk av mer än 50 konstnärer, från 1950-talet till idag, inklusive nya beställningsverk. Samtidigt är utställningen en hyllning till den finska konkretismens pionjär Lars-Gunnar ”Nubben” Nordström (1924–2014), hans 100-årsjubileum till ära.
EMMAssa avautuva Kokeileva konkretismi tarjoaa tilallisia elämyksiä sekä geometristen muotojen ja värien voimaa5.3.2024 10:00:00 EET | Tiedote
Kokeileva konkretismi käynnistää EMMAn näyttelykevään tuomalla esiin konkretistisen taiteen monimuotoisuutta ja elämyksellisyyttä. Näyttely tarkastelee konkretismin laajaa kirjoa eri ilmaisutapojen, materiaalisen moninaisuuden ja leikillisyyden vuoropuhelussa. Kokonaisuus on kuratoitu EMMAn kokoelmista ja se sisältää teoksia yli 50 taiteilijalta 1950-luvulta tähän päivään, mukaan lukien uusia tilausteoksia. Samalla näyttely juhlistaa suomalaisen konkretismin edelläkävijän, Lars-Gunnar ‘Nubben’ Nordströmin (1924–2014) 100-vuotisjuhlavuotta.
Monika Sosnowskas massiva skulpturer överraskar betraktaren med sin skenbara lätthet5.3.2024 10:00:00 EET | Tiedote
Den polska skulptören Monika Sosnowska har i EMMA utfört en skulpturhelhet som inbjuder betraktaren att tänka på begreppet rum och på strukturers betydelse på nya sätt. Utställningen An Order Apart visas 6.3–15.12.2024 i EMMAs Arena-sal som inriktar sig på ny och experimenterande konst.
Monika Sosnowska’s large-scale sculptures at EMMA surprise the viewer with their apparent lightness5.3.2024 10:00:00 EET | Press release
Polish sculptor Monika Sosnowska’s exhibition of sculptures at EMMA invites the viewer to reconsider our conception of space and the meaning of structures. Presented in EMMA’s Areena exhibition space dedicated to new and experimental art, An Order Apart will be on show from 6 March to 15 December 2024.
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom