Beast on its Back - Edition SEA Foundation, Netherlands

About

Beast on its Back is a continuation of Anna Frost's curatorial practice that operates outside conventional spaces. The presentation spotlights the 10 artistic practices along with notes on the future landscape of art exhibitions. Beast On Its Back can in many ways be viewed as a precursor to the post white cube, post institutional, non-urban-centric exhibition projects that our (post) quarantine art world surely will see a blossoming of. During the run of the online presentation, we dive into these themes by unfolding the exhibition and the artists included in it.

The exhibition is situated in a Californian sheep enclose that was vacated when the 2018 Woolsey Fires impacted major parts of the property. The now empty and overgrown space has you guessing what used to live here. A tall barbed-wire fence put in place to keep the coyotes out now looks more like a device to keep something trapped in the cage-like structure and the wrecked animal feeder has found a new home in the wilted grass. In Beast On It Back, this setting becomes a starting point to explore themes around what we chose to shelter and what we think we need shelter from.

Before Lockdown

Beast On Its Back is a continuation of Anna Frost’s curatorial practice that operates outside the conventional spaces. It ran from February 23 and ended 8 March 2020, just before the pandemic caused the world to shelter in place, effectively making it the last exhibition for the artists included for the foreseeable future. Beast On Its Back is a group exhibition in Decker Canyon, Malibu, USA, featuring new work by Jesse Stecklow, Irina Jasnowski Pascual, Tyler Berrier, Jonny Negron, Nina Hartmann, Sessa Englund, Natasha Romano, Fear Safe, John Garcia, James Jensen and a video from 1978 by George Kuchar. The show in Malibu was co-curated with John Garcia.

Anna Frost

Anna Frost is a Danish curator based in Los Angeles. Her practice focuses on nomadic, multi-purpose and artist-initiated projects. Together with creative director Jordan Richman, she directs Atrium, a series of site-specific interventions in the iconic architecture of The Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Since 2016 she and collaborator Agnes Bolt have directed BLUE RUIN, a curatorial platform that subverts a traditional gallery context by presenting art exhibitions within the more precarious and shifting space of a home for sale. Between 2011 to 2017 she was co-director of the Danish exhibition space and production unit TOVES in Copenhagen. During her residency at SEA Foundation, Anna Frost works on an extensive project of research that is accompanied by an exhibition series. 

Exhibition: Beast on its Back - Edition SEA Foundation, Netherlands 

Exhibition dates: 24.04.2020 - 07.06.2020

Curator: Anna Frost, i.c. John Garcia

Artists: Jesse Stecklow, Irina Jasnowski Pascual, Tyler Berrier, Jonny Negron, Nina Hartmann, Sessa Englund, Natasha Romano, Fear Safe, John Garcia, James Jensen

Venue: social media of SEA Foundation

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seafoundationnetherlands/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seafoundationtilburg/

SEA Foundation

Artist-led SEA Foundation is a non-profit art initiative. Over time, SEA Foundation has become a synonym for exhibitions, art practice support, exchanges and publications. We also run an International Artist in Residence programme that offers a unique environment, by providing time and space for research, experimentation and professional advancement. Every year the program facilitates up to 8 professional artists, curators and art writers in all stages of their careers.