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The final episode of the series showcases five artists who, through
uniquely different styles of work, address and respond to
contradiction, conflict and ambiguityand examine the relationship
between mystery and meaning in art: Jennifer Allora and Guillermo
Calzadilla, Robert Ryman, Mark Bradford and Catherine
Sullivan.
The final episode of the series showcases five artists who, through
uniquely different styles of work, address and respond to
contradiction, conflict and ambiguity and examine the relationship
between mystery and meaning in art. Collaborators Jennifer Allora
and Guillermo Calzadilla draw inspiration from their belief that
art can function as a catalyst for social change, and their works -
which include sculpture, video documentation and public
installations - often solicit active participation and critical
responses from their viewers. They approach visual art as a set of
experiments that test whether concepts such as authorship,
nationality, borders and democracy adequately describe today's
increasingly global society. Influenced by the work of artists such
as Mark Rothko and his own love of jazz and bebop, Robert Ryman is
well-known for his work with white paint on square forms, which
reveals the nuances of the surface. His paintings, characterized by
their subtlety, emphasize the role that perception and context play
in creating an aesthetic experience. Mark Bradford uses signage and
advertisements scavenged from the street to create wall-sized
collages that respond to the impromptu networks, such as
underground economies, immigrant communities or abandoned public
spaces, that emerge within a city. In his films, Bradford captures
and documents the cultural, political and racial conditions of an
urban environment. Catherine Sullivan's anxiety-inducing films and
live performances reveal the degree to which everyday gestures and
emotional states are scripted and performed, questioning the border
between innate and learned behavior.