This summer, ICP will present a solo exhibition of work by internationally acclaimed multi-disciplinary artist, Yto Barrada. Part-Time Abstractionist celebrates 10 years of Barrada's investigations in abstraction in photography and film, including new work exploring the space of the darkroom. These modes of working are consistent throughout Barrada’s work and offer an insight into the ways she examines the social, political, and industrial structures that have and continue to shape society.
A specific focus on play, childhood, and learning will run throughout the show, including works from found-object photogram series—Bonbon (2016-17), colorful, abstract works made with candy wrappers, Blockhead Toy (2017), printed with a child’s set of blocks, and Practice Piece (2017), contact prints of found sewing lessons—as well as her work with homemade rural North African toys from the collection of the Musée du quai Branly, Paris. In acknowledgement of ICP’s school and active darkroom classes, many of these series use alternative darkroom processes, including the more recent Untitled (burning and dodging tools) (2021), which will also be on view.
Yto Barrada: Part-Time Abstractionist is the first exhibition in a new series focusing on alumni of ICP’s school. Barrada graduated from ICP’s Full-Time Documentary program in 1996.
The exhibition is curated by Elisabeth Sherman, Senior Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Collections at ICP.
