Exhibition: An A-historical Daydream 14th A.I.R. Biennial

February 12 — March 14, 2021

Curated by Jasmine Wahi

Jo Ann Block, Marcy Chevali, Jin-Yong Choi, Molmol Kuo, Marina Leybishkis, Nikki Luna, Helina Metaferia, Marianna Peragallo, Nitcha Tothong (Fame), Luis Vasquez La Roche, Noa Yekutieli

A.I.R. Gallery is pleased to present its 14th Biennial exhibition, An A-historical Daydream, curated by Jasmine Wahi. The exhibition will be presented in two phases, the first online on A.I.R.’s website and the second at its gallery in Brooklyn, New York. Comprised of a selection of media-based works, the online portion of the show is on view from January 8 through March 14, 2021. The gallery exhibition will be open by appointment beginning on February 12, 2021.  

An A-historical Daydream investigates the slipperiness of linear time across a variety of both parallel and intersecting histories. Histories are often singular narratives: they are agendized and unbalanced, and often promote a binary idea of ‘us vs them’ or ‘conqueror and conquered.’ This exhibition invites artists to consider time, history, and future in new and radical ways. It asks them to reflect upon the popular histories that we have been taught, and to then radically imagine a space/time dimension in which colonialism and hegemonic structures either never existed or existed in a different form. 

The exhibition presents an array of artists thinking through complex ideas of time, history, space, non-history, and revisionism. Conceptually, it is categorized by different points in a multi-dimensional, malleable, and utterly surreal non-linear time-space. Some artists in the exhibition, such as Noa Yekutieli, Marcy Chevali, Jo Ann Block, Darice Polo, Andrea Ray, and Hana Zhang explore the possibilities of reimagined histories and presents based on a radical reconsideration of ‘what could have been.’ Others such as Jin-Yong Choi, Molmol Kuo, Catherine Lie with Caroline White-Nockleby, Marianna Peragallo, Nitcha Tothong (Fame), Carrie Sijia Wang, Luis Vasquez La Roche, Caroline Garcia, and Yekutieli look staunchly towards a future that is largely untainted by our scorched cyclical past. And finally, a selection of artists look at a world as removed as possible from the historical realities that have shaped our present. This final grouping of artists, including Bridget Leslie, Nikesha Breeze, Helina Metaferia, Marina Leybishkis, Heesoo Kwon, Nikki Luna, and Zhang, explore futurity through the lens of introspection and self-reflection. It is worth noting that some of the artists’ works fall into more than one category.

An A-historical Daydream is supported by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Jasmine Wahi is an Activist, TEDx Speaker, Founder and Co-Director of Project for Empty Space, and the Holly Block Social Justice Curator at the Bronx Museum. Her practice predominantly focuses on issues of femme empowerment, complicating binary structures within social discourses, and exploring multipositional cultural identities through the lens of intersectional feminism. In addition to her other work, Ms. Wahi is a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts: MFA Fine Arts department, and a Visiting Critic at Yale