Tonight marks the closing of “Pressure Point,” an exhibit currently running at Outpost Artists Resources in Ridgewood curated by Alexandra Drewchin. Inspired by kung-fu, Wu Tang Clan, philosophy, and mathematics, “Press Point” showcases nine artists, with three members of WTC serving as an astrological profile of each. Read the artist statement below.
“In the last week before the closing of Pressure Point I will now reveal the third layer of significance for this exhibition that’s been completely secret until now. Yes, I wanted this show to be inspired by the analogy of kung-fu’s gentle violence using pressure points and the soft pressure of propaganda but I was originally inspired to use these themes by the album Enter The Wu Tang The 36 Chambers (1993) which was named after the martial arts film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978). I specifically chose 9 artists to represent the 9 places of the rap crew. According to a Five Percent philosophy, in Supreme Mathematics, the number 9 means “to bring into existence”. The 36 Chambers was Wu Tangs debut album and Pressure Point is the first art exhibition I’ve ever curated. The significance goes deeper still. The group is made up of 9 members, each of whom has 4 chambers of the heart (2 atria, and 2 ventricles). All of this is the root of “36 Chambers” and then subsequently my inspiration for Pressure Point, in that 9 x 4 = 36. To go even further, there are 108 pressure points in the human body giving us 1 + 0 + 8 = 9. Finally, to string it all together, we have 3 + 6 = 9 and then 36 + 9 = 45 and then naturally 4 + 5 = 9.
I now will take the liberty of matching each artist with 3 members of the Wu Tang as if they were Astrological signs. If there are objections to the pairings I look forward to discussing the concerns at the closing reception.”
Don’t miss your last chance to see this stunning exhibition. Details to the event can be found here and below are photos from the opening reception, shot by Cheryl Georgette Arent.
Artists involved:
Andrew Sutherland – Method Mad, RZA(rising), Raekwon(moon)
Jessie Stead – RZA, Raekwon(rising), Inspectah Deck(moon)
Pat Spadine – GZA, Masta Killa(rising), U-God(moon)
Rebecca Fin Simonetti – Ghost Face, Inspectah Deck(rising), Old Dirty Bastard(moon),
Raul de Nieves – Old Dirty Bastard, GZA(rising), Old Dirty Bastard(moon)
James Moore – Ghost Face, Method Man(rising), RZA(moon)
Andrew Laumann -Raekwon, Method man(rining), Old Dirty Bastard(moon)
Indriði Ingólfsson – GZA, GZA(rising), RZA(moon)
Jesse Hlebo – RZA, Raekwon(rising), Masta Killa(moon)
