Suriname-born Dutch artist Remy Jungerman presents his first solo exhibition in the United States at the Fridman Gallery, in New York. Titled Brilliant Corners, the show deals with the intersecting histories of colonisation and migration by using materials drawn from Suriname’s colonial past and complex present. The display includes the artist’s new body of work and will be open to the public until May 15.
Connecting the visual language of minimalism and conceptualism, Jungerman explores the intersection of pattern and symbol in Surinamese Maroon culture, the larger African Diaspora, Jazz, and 20th Century Modernism. Being a descendant of the Surinamese Maroons who escaped enslavement on Dutch plantations, the Amsterdam-based artist constantly challenges the established art historical canon in his work.
Brilliant Corners features wall-based panels and sculptural assemblages of textiles and clay. The resulting surfaces are delicate, tactile, and layered recalling the low-toned rhythms of the Agida – a drum used in the Winti religious ceremonies of the Surinamese Maroons. By placing textile, clay, beads, and nails, Jungerman presents a vision that does justice to an oversimplified perspective on art history.
