The second title in the Clarion series spotlights the artist Nikita
Gale, whose multimedia work applies the lens of material culture to
examine the role authority plays in political, social, and economic
systems.
Immersing the audience in sound and light, Nikita Gale's END OF
SUBJECT subverts understandings of viewership by prompting spectators
to question their subjecthood within 52 Walker's site-specific
installation. Creating an aurally and visually rich environment, Gale
engages with the architecture of the space, stimulating all senses, and
muses on the boundaries of performance art. Considering and fracturing
the physical space of the installation, the artist employs abolitionist
ideology and institutional critique to simultaneously rupture and
rebuild facets of the art institution.
With an introduction by Ebony L. Haynes and a suite of poems by Harmony
Holiday, this publication considers Gale's multidisciplinary approach in
addressing historical hierarchies of visibility. A text by the esteemed
artist Andrea Fraser offers reflections on the various interventions at
play during a gathering held in the exhibition.
About Clarion
The Clarion series of illustrated publications is positioned as an
extension of each exhibition at the groundbreaking gallery space 52
Walker, curated by Ebony L. Haynes. The program focuses on showcasing
conceptual and research-based artists from a range of backgrounds and at
various stages in their careers. The series title is derived from the
Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop, the oldest of its
kind, at the University of California, San Diego. Octavia Butler
attended this workshop in the 1970s. Butler's writing has been
influential in the conceptual framework of the program and the Clarion
series. With a sleek design influenced by encyclopedias, each
publication features color reproductions of the works on view, alongside
an introduction by Haynes, commissioned essays, artist texts, archival
materials, and more.
