ALINA BLIUMIS: THE CAMOUFLAGE OF LAUGHTER
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The Camouflage of Laughter takes Bakhtinian laughter, with its focus on the grotesque, power-switching apparatuses of Medieval festivals and pageants as its starting point, but pushes this paradigm up against contemporary forms of political representation that embrace conspiracy theories and violence at the center of their operations. Bliumis’ frieze-like tapestry links together scenes of power relations upended (woman-identified figures usurping masculine-occupied positions of power, animals directing humans, buffoons commanding authority), but also displays the dangers of the carnivalistic and its propensity to harness unbridled antinomian energy for racist, misogynistic, and, even, murderous ends.’ read more

ALINA BLIUMIS: CONCRETE POEMS

The term “Concrete poetry” is referring to an arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance, It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry. Though the term ‘concrete poetry’ is modern, the idea of using letter arrangements to enhance the meaning of a poem was popular throughout history: in Greek Alexandria during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, in religious and secular text, Futurism, Dada, and Surrealism. The term "concrete poetry" was established in Brazil after the National Exhibition of Concrete Art (1956/57).

Bliumis takes the term “concrete poems” literally with this series, by writing her poems in the wet concrete. The series is inspired by street wall scrabbles, graffiti, and absurdist poetry.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Alina Bliumis (b. Minsk, Belarus, lives and works in NYC) received her BFA from the School of Visual Art (1999) and a diploma from the Advanced Course in Visual Arts in Fondazione Antonio Ratti, Como, Italy (2005).

Alina has exhibited internationally at the Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration, Paris, France, the First Moscow Biennales of Contemporary Art (Moscow, Russia), Busan Biennale (Busan, South Korea), Assab One (Milan, Italy), the Bronx Museum of the Arts (New York, US), Galerie Anne de Villepoix (Paris, France), Centre d’art Contemporain (Meymac, France), the James Gallery, The Graduate Center CUNY (New York, US), Museum of Contemporary Art (Cleveland, US), Museums of Bat Yam (Bat-Yam, Israel), the Jewish Museum (New York, US), the Saatchi Gallery (London, UK), Botanique Museum (Brussels, Belgium), the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK), MAC VAL - Musée d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne (France).

Her works are in various private and public collections, including MAC VAL - Musée d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne, France; Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration, Paris, France; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Russia; Bat Yam Museum for Contemporary Art, Israel; The Saatchi Collection, UK; The Harvard Business School, USA; The National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia, USA and Missoni Collection, Italy.