Press Release: Fareed Armaly

New Works 04.2
07.08.04

New Works: 04.2

July 8 ?ptember 12, 2004

Fareed Armaly Washington, District of Columbia

Ulrike Ottinger Berlin, Germany

Willie Varela El Paso, Texas

Selected by Ute Meta Bauer

About the Artist

Born to Palestinian and Lebanese parents in the US, Fareed Armaly has
lived his adult life abroad, gaining most of his knowledge about America via
the media. These multicultural experiences dovetail with issues explored in his
installations: identity and representation, as well as the idea of the social
imaginary?iscourse about how human interaction fabricates a collective
understanding of the world.

Maps are referenced both literally and metaphorically in Armaly's work. In
his 1999 project From/To, routes to and from a range of Middle Eastern
cities were plotted in the real space of the gallery. As viewers moved through
the installation, video, audio, and documentary material combined with
structural elements to expose the Palestinian experience, particularly the
physical and psychological barriers encountered on a daily basis. In this work,
as in others, Armaly reveals how various components?ely architecture
and media?ersect and overlap to form a space in which identity is created
and comprehended.

Fareed Armaly was born in Iowa City, Iowa in 1957. Solo exhibitions
include From/To, Witte de With, Rotterdam, NL (1999); BREA-KD-
OWN, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium (1993); and
re(Orient), Galerie Lorenz, Paris, France (1989). He has also participated
in numerous group exhibitions including Documenta 11, Kassel, Germany
(2002); Architectures of Discourse, Tapies Foundation Museum,
Barcelona, Spain (2001); NowHere, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art,
Humlebaek, Denmark (1996); and Project Unite, Unite d'Habitation,
Firminy, France (1993). The artist divides his time between Berlin, Germany
and Washington, DC.

About the Project

Orient(n)ations is Fareed Armaly's first major project in the US in
over a decade. Like previous projects, this installation situates architecture
and media as cardinal points on the mental and social maps that inform
identity. The elements that Armaly has amassed in the gallery work together to
create an abstract compass. The north-south axis is formed by the
architecture of the space, which has been activated through layers of paint
matching the colors of the building's exterior. On polar ends of the east-west
axis are two monitors, each playing a film from the 1950s? employing
radio as a subversive tool, the other as an arm of the establishment.

Armaly turns to radio, a format that reached heights in the 1950s and has
recently experienced a rebirth due to wireless technologies and Internet
broadcasting, rather than working with images? dominant vehicle of
contemporary media. In the center of the gallery, Armaly inscribed the floor
with radio call numbers and arranged a group of low modern chairs in a
random pattern that implies spontaneity and movement. Each seat is equipped
with wireless headphones tuned to a different radio program produced by
Armaly and collaborators. These five programs establish different connections
between the two films and represent the fluidity of narratives that might
emerge from any given set of circumstances.

In its map-like construction, Orient(n)ations literalizes theories of the
social imaginary. Its various components combine to create a spatial narrative
formed by intersections of media and architecture?arrative that maps who
we are and how we exist in relationship to physical, social, and psychological
spheres.

Exhibition Dates

July 8 ?ptember 12, 2004

Opening Reception

Thursday, July 8, 6:30-8:30 PM

Artists' Dialogue

Friday, July 9, 6:30-8:00 PM

Featuring Fareed Armaly, Ulrike Ottinger, Willie Varela, and guest curator Ute
Meta Bauer, Independent Curator and Artistic Director of the 2004 Berlin Biennial.

Brown Bag Lunch

Wednesday, August 11, 12:00-1:00 PM

Join Education and Curatorial Associate, Kate Green, for a tour of New Works 04.2 followed by a
brown bag lunch (provided by Sip) and group discussion. Call Artpace for menu and reservations.

Event Locations

All events held at Artpace, 445 N. Main Avenue. Free parking at Flores Street
and Savings. Artpace is open to the public Wednesday thru Sunday, 12-5pm,
Thursday until 8pm and by appointment. There is no charge for
admission.

About Artpace

Artpace San Antonio serves as an advocate for contemporary art and as
a catalyst for the creation of significant art projects. We seek to nurture
emerging and established artists and to provide opportunities for inspiration,
experimentation, and education. Our programs support the evolution of new
ideas in contemporary art and cultivate diverse audiences while providing a
forum for ongoing dialogue.

The International Artist-in-Residence program is supported by The Andy
Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the
Arts.

445 North Main Avenue San Antonio TX 78205 t 210 212 4900 f 210 212 4990 www.artpace.org