Marking Monuments

While some museums are closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Apollo’s usual weekly pick of exhibitions will include shows at institutions that are currently open as well as digital projects providing virtual access to art and culture.

In recent months monuments have become a focal point in debates over the nature of historical memory. This display at the University of South Florida (USF) Contemporary Art Museum in Tampa (22 January–6 March) looks at a series of artists’ interventions that challenge the narratives of the past presented by public memorials. The exhibition includes installations, films and photographs relating to five such projects. John Sims’s film Freedom Memorial at Gamble Plantation (2020), for example, proposes a black obelisk inscribed in gold with the names of slaves, to be installed in front of the mansion at the centre of the Gamble Plantation in Florida, now a historic state park. The exhibition is also available online, with a virtual walkthrough where you can watch the films. Find out more from the USF Contemporary Art Museum’s website.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here

Bentonville Forecast: In the Square (film still; 2019), Ariel René Jackson. Courtesy the artist

The Battle is Joined (2017), Karyn Olivier, commissioned by Monument Lab and Mural Arts, installation view in Vernon Park, Philadelphia. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

Freedom Memorial at Gamble Plantation (film still; 2020), John Sims. Courtesy the artist