2007 Balquier
Will you please remember the beginning for me?
May
LAND is happy to present
Will you please remember the beginning for me?, the first solo exhibition by Kansas City-based artist 2007 Balquier.
Will you please remember the beginning for me?features recent cyanotypes, video, and sculpture. Anchoring the exhibition are a series of large-scale cyanotypes on translucent fabric, which were created at Kaw Point, the location where the Kansas (Kaw) River terminates at the Missouri River (which itself continues through Missouri to connect to the Mississippi River and on to the Gulf of Mexico). Kaw Point is also a notable location on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, a camping party stop in June of 1804 along their journey from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean.
As in 2007’s process, the cyanotype itself developed in the early 1800’s and was used as a process to accurately represent botanical specimens with direct contact printing. 2007’s project expands the historical precedent of the index as their referent is more pictorially vague: river water, mud, and riprap (coarse cut stone used for shoreline foundations). The result are works of complex irregular curvilinear forms and patterns ranging from colorless light tones to deep blues.
These cyanotypes are displayed throughout LAND - upon windows and on the floor. Additionally, the exhibition includes a series of 3 videos depicting scenes both at the river and an unrecorded VHS live-feed signal of LAND. Additional artifacts collected from the River site and around LAND are displayed throughout the gallery: a garter snake carcass, bricks, wire, and beaver-chewed driftwood.
2007’s multimedia installation calls attention to the complex and violent history of Westward Expansion and the exploitation of natural resources and peoples in the Plains. Displacement, ownership, and spatial boundaries are reflected by sculptures that are delicate and dense, decayed and developed.
2007 Balquier (b. 1996) is an artist specializing in performance, video, and installation. They received a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2018, where they studied Converging Media and Digital Filmmaking. They recently attended the Art and Rural Environments Field School led by Richard Saxton and Mary Welcome. Their recent work engages with the complex relationship between identity and landscape, often utilizing site specific video projections, atmospheric soundscapes, and poetic live performances.
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The project runs May 1 through May 31, 2019 with an opening reception on Friday May 24, 7:00-10:00 PM
Installation views forthcoming