Jimmie Durham: Traces and Shiny Evidence, Parasol unit

For the latest Parasol unit exhibition artist Jimmie Durham creates an immersive installation that he describes as ‘beautiful death’ 
Ziba Ardalan’s, non-for-profit gallery delights with yet another thought-provoking exhibition, this time by the celebrated artist, writer and activist Jimmie Durham. Spanning five decades, Durham’s work comprises mainly of sculpture and installation and also includes drawing, photography, performance and video. 
The exhibition
For his exhibition at Parasol unit, Durham has created a new installation that covers the entire two floors of the gallery. The ground floor is a bizarre compendium of brightly painted oil barrels whose surfaces change colour as the viewer changes standpoint. We enter into a bizarre world of fake animal skeletons, automobile parts and plastic pipes seeping spillages of colourful acrylic ink. This strange candy coloured ensemble is both a meditation on the nature of materiality and an exploration on the nature of mankind. Upstairs draped on the walls are sheets of drawing paper, on which are covered black and white contours of animal forms, inviting us to ponder on the natural world and the creatures we share it with. 
Included in the exhibition is Durham’s mesmerising 90-minute video Smashing, in which the artist methodically goes about smashing objects placed in front of him with another large object. The manner in which Durham calmly goes about his destruction immediately lends itself to all manner of metaphors, not least man’s own decimation of the natural world. And that’s the beauty of Durham’s work: there is a poetic aesthetic about it, yet it genuinely stimulates. The work does not direct but leaves the viewer to ask his own questions. As Durham himself has written: ‘I want to think about art. I want art to be a part of humanity’s thinking process, not humanity’s ‘feeling’ process. We already have enough emotions, enough feelings, but we don’t have enough thoughts.’
The Parasol unit have also developed a fantastic educational program to accompany the exhibition, activities including creative writing, poetry reading, lectures, family workshops and a talk by the artist. An ‘In the know’ show for the summer exhibitions diary!