January 24 - February 5, 2022
THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
drawings and sculpture by
Michael Pribich
THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
The art works included here at Jadite Gallery were completed in 2021 while working in Jalisco, México and at the Nars Residency in Brooklyn. The concepts are informed by hybrid ideas of Méxican labor history, including the period when African slave labor was introduced into México. Beginning around 1521 port cities like Vera Cruz became terminus points for African slave ships. This interests me because of my own Méxican heritage, and because I want to participate in the revision of the historic amnesia that negates the outward existence of African slavery in México. The Shape Of Things To Come supports the idea that history can be seen with a wide angle lens that includes and expands the role of Black Méxicans, Natives, and Women in Méxican history. This visibility and discourse does not include a folkloric otherness, but rather an alternate narration that acknowledges people by including their stories as part of history, culture, and politics. Looking behind we can see ahead to the shape of things to come.
Michael Pribich
Black Support, 76 x 49” overall. (6) Drawings are modeled after the support belts worn by laborers to bolster the core of the body when doing heavy lifting. The silver ribbon collage symbolizes the labor required to operate the silver mines, sugar cane fields, and the immense physical labor required to build wealth.
Endless Labor, 81 x 11 x 8”. The suspended interlocking support belts are hand-sewn from paper bags used for holding cement.
Blood Vessels, Brunido, 4 stacked drawings, overall dimensions 60” x 44”. Graphite on paper. Blood Vessels Brunido are hybrid works that employ materiality from Jalisco traditional ceramic vessels. The vernacular imagery becomes an entry point to reference the labor traditions of this craft. Brunido refers to the burnished surface. When a Brunido vessel is used for storing water, the clay infuses the water with a desired perfumed taste.
Blood Vessels