This is Gallery B where you can see the collection of video art, photography and design. Click on Gallery A for seeing the collection of painting, drawing, sculpture and mixed media and on Meet The Artists for getting to know our artists.
Execution of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 in the middle of the day and in front of the whole world was one of the clearest evidence of racism and brutality based on color, in 21 century. We clearly saw that human beings are still being tortured and killed for what they are and they didn’t choose themselves, it was such a shock for the humanity for the simple fact that it was captured on cameras.
Discrimination is utterly ugly and wrong but clearly on paper because in reality people are still being targets of it in any form. We hope that in time human beings and mostly political systems reach to an understanding of how to stop this violence, but until then at Matigan as always we tend to translate the common universal feelings through art and the heart of our artists.
Sylvain Souklaye
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
This is not a performance. This my life, maybe yours.
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
This is my first memory of my first police contact, it may also be yours.
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After church, I was running back home, I was just a child.
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
I was just there. I was me. I was breathing. I was alive.
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
For them, I was not a minor, I was an error.
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
I relive it every time I cross the path of an officer.
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
Police protect your safety at the cost of your liberty.
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
Police is the constitutional weapon of governmental policy.
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
Governmental policies against me, you, the former migrant.
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
The outcast, the outsider, the foreigner, the other.
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
The faceless, nameless, anonymous, insignificant, the many.
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
Because good people just talk, never act. I am the enemy.
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
Many times has my head hit the ground, I thought I would die.
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
How many have died? How many will die?
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
Some can’t take it anymore and commit suicide.
It is not a safe space. We are not safe. I’m not safe.
Legal terrorism. Casual genocide.
Breathe for the forgotten.
Breathe for you.
Breathe for those who can’t.
Breathe for us.
And do not stop.
“This is our space. This is our time. This is our fight.
For all the bodies, minds and souls that don’t follow the right corpus.”
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Barry Despenza
- Animation_Of_Digital_Human_Face
- Psychical Distance
Alice Mason
Maundy Mitchell is an internationally acclaimed portrait photographer and Associate Level Photographer with The Portrait Masters International. She runs her portrait studio, Maundy Mitchell Photography, in Plymouth, NH. Her photos have been published in magazines, on billboards, and online nationally and internationally.
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She is a member of the Professional Photographer’s Association of America, the National Association of Professional Child Photographers, the Magic Hour Foundation Photographer Network, and the Women’s Caucus for Art in New Hampshire. She holds a trademark on the phrase, “People are Beautiful”, which is her core belief as a photographer.
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Jota Ramos
The title “Spricht Dieser Körper Deutsch?” makes reference to the book “Spricht die Subalterne deutsch?” organized by Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez, Hito Steyerl (2003) that traces narratives about post-colonialism and the idea that, even today, theoretical and artistic approaches that come from the history of migration and minority are almost never taken into.
Tzen Xing
The recent killing of George Floyd on May 29th by a racist white cop sparked the largest uprising for racial justice in America. Over 20 million Americans marched in 2000 cities to protest the brutal killings of Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many other black people. ”More” Protesting and photographing out in the streets for Black Lives Matter were incredibly visceral experiences, intense, immediate and dangerous. The police reacted with violence, treating us as the “enemy” rather than civilians with the right to protest, protected by the 1st Amendment. They shot tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and projectiles at us with little or no provocation. They bull rushed and beat us, often without warning. All of us were attacked, “moms and dads,” doctors, nurses, teachers, military veterans, the media, medics, students, workers, anarchists, progressives, young and old. Many of us were afraid, and badly injured, but we kept protesting. Trying to photograph the protests was a real challenge. I quickly discovered that all I had learned about street photography was useless. I relied on my instincts to keep photographing while I was running, my eyes burning with tear gas. The situations were volatile, chaotic and unpredictable. One moment, we were marching peacefully down the streets, shouting “Black Lives Matter.” Moments later, we were running, screaming, choking and crying while tear gas and flash bang grenades exploded in the streets It was terrifying and disorienting. I don’t know how I managed to keep photographing through the thick fogs of tear gas, smoke and stun grenades in the streets. I guess I was lucky.. I hope my images of the BLM protests help to tell our story, our history, our fight for justice. We lit the fire, and we will keep it burning. ”Less”
Antonis Tsarouchas
Masks of life This piece showcase the masks that people of color must wear, in order to function under the systemic racism and oppression of society. Covered in black and white hiding every culture and emotions that dont “fit” in the society.
White America I dont think that i have to explain that photo. I think it says it all.
Iris Houkes
The series INEQUALITY has arised from my interest in ‘the current zeitgeist’, in which race, gender, se xuality and class still are mayor issues. The technique I use is based on the ‘paper waving’ technique which was part of the schooling methods of Friedrich Fröbel, founder of the first ever ‘kindergarten’, in 1837. He believed in divine unity in nature, at which he applied physical training as a fundamental principle.
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According to Fröbel, ‘Paper waving’ was an excellent method to get toddlers acquainted with abstract structures. By applying this technique in this series, the contrast between form and content is strengthened. Fröbel, ‘Paper waving’ was an excellent method to get toddlers acquainted with abstract structures. By applying this technique in this series, the contrast between form and content is strengthened.
Series/ INEQUALITY
Image 1 and 2/ Kids aren’t born racist (2020)
5600 x 4200 mm / 1600 gr / Paper on MDF board
Form and tekst ask attention for the childlike innocence within the subject ‘equality’.
Image 5 and 6/ Take action (2020)
3400 mm x 1900 mm / 400 gr / paper on cartonboard
Form and tekst challenge to take action.
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Marieke-Vreeken
Oath of dishonor”
“Oath of dishonor” depicts the Law Enforcement Oath of Honor, spelled out by the names of people of color who have fallen victim to police brutality in the United States. It explores how hollow those honorable words ring, when mourning communities are forced, yet again, to #saytheirname. It provides an ugly glimpse of the systemic oppression of those who are already dealing with plenty of ancestral scars, at the hands of those who are meant to serve and protect. Perhaps even more painful than the stark contrast between words and actions that this piece reflects, is the realization that the names portrayed are merely the tip of the iceberg. This juxtaposition between “what is” and “what should be” visualizes how far we have strayed from the embodiment of those honorable words, or how, perhaps, we were never truly there to begin with.