Mira Dancy: Herfugue

May 23, 2019

September 15 – November 10, 2019
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 14, 2019, 7-9pm

JOAN is pleased to present Herfugue, an exhibition of new works by Mira Dancy. Through large-scale drawings, free-standing neons, floor-based sand elements, and poetry, Dancy continues her examination of femininity, power, experience, and archetypal forms.

Poetry and wordplay often function as catalysts for Dancy’s works, and here the exhibition’s title, Herfugue, extends from a litany (herfume, herfuel, herfuse, herfugue) of words coined gradually over the last few years. The conception of these fluid and evolving terms, one giving way to the next, involves a process of introspection and invention.

The exhibition forefronts the linguistic aspect of Dancy’s practice by presenting her poem, “Amalgam” on the gallery’s center columns. The poem loosely sets the scene for the characters in her drawings—a band of shadowy female figures moving through a dystopian landscape of asphalt and fencing, several motioning towards something sinister just out of frame. These wanderers are accompanied by two hulking neon sculptures— beacons casting lurid greens and violets across the otherwise colorless scene. Swirls of black sand along the gallery floor reference the blighted ground these women aim to navigate, reclaim, and reform.

Mira Dancy (b. 1979) has had recent solo exhibitions at Galerie Hussenot (Paris, France), Lumber Room (Portland, OR), Night Gallery (Los Angeles CA), Chapter NY (New York City), and the Yuz Museum (Shanghai, China). In 2015 she was included in Greater New York at MoMA PS1. Dancy’s work has been covered in The New York Times, Art in America, Artforum, Vogue, Kaleidoscope, and ArtNews, among other publications. She received her M.F.A. from Columbia University in 2009, her B.A. from Bard College in 2001, and currently lives and works in New York.

 

Installation view of Mira Dancy, Herfugue.  September 15 – November 10, 2019 at JOAN, Los Angeles

Installation view of Mira Dancy, Herfugue.  September 15 – November 10, 2019 at JOAN, Los Angeles

Installation view of Mira Dancy, Herfugue.  September 15 – November 10, 2019 at JOAN, Los Angeles

Installation view of Mira Dancy, Herfugue.  September 15 – November 10, 2019 at JOAN, Los Angeles

Installation view of Mira Dancy, Herfugue.  September 15 – November 10, 2019 at JOAN, Los Angeles

Installation view of Mira Dancy, Herfugue.  September 15 – November 10, 2019 at JOAN, Los Angeles

Installation view of Mira Dancy, Herfugue.  September 15 – November 10, 2019 at JOAN, Los Angeles

 

Installation view of Mira Dancy, Herfugue.  September 15 – November 10, 2019 at JOAN, Los Angeles

Installation view of Mira Dancy, Herfugue.  September 15 – November 10, 2019 at JOAN, Los Angeles

Installation view of Mira Dancy, Herfugue.  September 15 – November 10, 2019 at JOAN, Los Angeles

Installation view of Mira Dancy, Herfugue.  September 15 – November 10, 2019 at JOAN, Los Angeles

 

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