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Curatorial
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McLean Fahnestock: Undiscovered Country
The New Gallery, Aug. 27 - Sept. 21, 2018 |
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Identity is defined by Merriam Webster’s Dictionary as 1a: the distinguishing character or personality of an individual, and b: the relation established by psychological identification. McLean Fahnestock’s work since 2013 has been largely inspired by her grandfather, Captain John Sheridan Fahnestock, a famed explorer of the South Pacific. Though she never met him in person, she has learned about Captain Fahnestock through family stories and exploration documentation archived in institutions such as the American Museum of Natural HIstory. She has also discovered that the familial anecdotes and historical documentation often contradict each other. It is this search for truth in the familial lineage that provides a wealth of source material with which Fahnestock creates her work. This semester (Fall 2018), I wanted to focus on how artists identify themselves, and how that search for identity (through research, stories and lived experience) could contribute to the content within their work. It is in these deeply personal connections that artists are able to create work that asks questions of not just themselves, but also of the viewer. McLean Fahnestock’s work does exactly that. With this exhibition, the viewers are not asked questions pointed at confronting their own identity; but to show that Fahnestock’s profound research of her own familial identity is the driving force behind the content. It is only artwork that Fahnestock can make and is easily identifiable as hers. - Michael Dickins, Gallery Director |
