BRIDGEHAMPTON
“Set It Off”
May 22 - July 24, 2022.
An exhibition with an explosive title promises big things, and given that “Set It Off” is curated by the duo of Racquel Chevremont and Mickalene Thomas — collectively known as Deux Femmes Noires— the odds are good that it will deliver. The six artists included all show a strong dedication to working across media and combining materials in surprising ways; one of Leilah Babirye’s sculptures includes washers, screws and bicycle chains.
About Set It Off:
Curated by Racquel Chevremont and Mickalene Thomas—collectively known as Deux Femmes Noires—Set It Off brings together work by Leilah Babirye, Torkwase Dyson, February James, Karyn Olivier, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and Kennedy Yanko. Often combining multiple elements of paintings, sculpture, installation, sound, and language, each artist in Set It Off engages the monumental, the site-specific, or the immersive in their practice.
While Dyson and Janan Rasheed employ minimalism and the grid to explore how intellectual, environmental, and architectural infrastructures are perceived and negotiated, James and Babirye create figurative work that examines personal and collective histories in relation to identity. Olivier and Yanko make monumentally scaled works that manipulate everyday objects and materials to activate history and memory. The title, Set It Off—to do something significant, to do something with intensity or with a hurricane-like force, or to change an atmosphere for the better—points to the varied, impactful work.
Set It Off is organized by Parrish Art Museum and Deux Femmes Noires: Racquel Chevremont and Mickalene Thomas, Guest Curators. Support for Set It Off is provided by Susan and Timothy Davis, Sandy and Stephen Perlbinder, Robin and Frederick Seegal, Alexandra Stanton and Sam Natapoff, and George Wells.
- Perrish Art Museum
