Light the Barricades
January 1 - July 25, 2021
Mint Museum Randolph
January 1 - July 25, 2021
Mint Museum Randolph
For over a decade, Candy Chang and James A. Reeves have collaborated on internationally recognized projects that connect storytelling with contemporary rituals for self-reflection. They both grew up without any kind of faith or ritual in their lives. After reckoning with the trials of life and the dark alleys of the mind—death, depression, addiction, anxiety—they began to channel these concerns into their work, pursuing philosophy, psychology, and contemplative practices, both in their daily lives as well as their art-making practice. Their projects are inspired by a range of classical and contemporary rituals which feel increasingly resonant in our distracted age, from the devotional images of Catholicism to the ancient I Ching.
Their work has been described as “a wake-up call in our fast-paced digital age” (Ad Age), a “remarkably poignant, accessible, and affecting brand of art” (Pelican Bomb) with writing that offers a “unique point of view that is quirky, beautiful, disturbing, humorous, and at times unexpectedly and achingly moving” (Photo Life). Their most recent collaborative work, A Monument for the Anxious and Hopeful, functioned as a year-long catalogue of the ways in which we relate to the uncertainty of tomorrow and collected over 50,000 anxieties and hopes at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City in 2018.
This Charlotte presentation of Light the Barricades is made possible by Charlotte Center City Partners and is part of the exhibition WALLS: Defend, Divide, and the Divine on view at Mint Museum Uptown until July 25, 2021.
Additional generous support is provided by:
Wallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles, California
Laura and Mike Grace
Deidre and Clay Grubb
Leigh-ann and Martin Sprock
Betsy Rosen and Liam Stokes