Fractal Nature

2021 A.I.R. National Members Exhibition

GALLERY I, II, III

May 29 — June 27, 2021

Curated by Patricia M. Hernández

Hend Al-Mansour, d’Ann de Simone, Robin Dintiman, Kathryn Hart, Marlana Stoddard Hayes, Jody Joldersma, Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann, Jennifer McCandless, Carola Miles, Mimi Oritsky, Simone Paterson, Allison Paschke, Martha Sedgwick, Ann Stoddard, Vicky Tomayko, Ellyn Weiss, Holly Wong, Joo Yeon Woo, Alice Pixley Young

A.I.R. Gallery is pleased to present Fractal Nature, a group exhibition curated by Patricia M. Hernández. The exhibition features A.I.R. National Artist Members Hend Al-Mansour, d’Ann de Simone, Robin Dintiman, Kathryn Hart, Marlana Stoddard Hayes, Jody Joldersma, Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann, Jennifer McCandless, Carola Miles, Mimi Oritsky, Simone Paterson, Allison Paschke, Martha Sedgwick, Ann Stoddard, Vicky Tomayko, Ellyn Weiss, Holly Wong, Joo Yeon Woo, and Alice Pixley Young.

The whole is a mirror of its parts. Fractals are unparalleled sublime structures produced by nature. They hide in plain sight all around us. They are difficult to precisely define, though fractals are generally geometric patterns in which every smaller part of the structure resembles the whole. The term comes from the Latin word fractus meaning “broken” or “irregular,” and alludes to how these random or chaotic natural phenomena break down and patch back together across various scales. Fractals appear in crystal growth, fluid turbulence, the biodiversity of a forest, and galaxy formation.

Most natural objects are composed of many different types of fractals woven into each other, each with parts containing successive fractal dimensions. Humans are fractal: our lungs, our circulatory systems, our brains are much like a forest of trees. The 2021 A.I.R. National Members exhibition’s title, Fractal Nature, departs from activist and Black feminist scholar adrienne maree brown’s idea that fractal nature is central to humans’ ability to organize, collectivize, and build a more equitable future. In a recent lecture, brown emphasized that the human experience, the sum of all our parts, “is made up of all these small parts and small patterns.” She poses the question: “How do we set small patterns that can grow into massive patterns of change?” For brown, by practicing and repeating new patterns, however infinitely small they may seem, we have the power to incite the changes we seek and repair the injustices of our past. The National Members exhibition is a fractal occurrence, a platform for dialogue and exchange which makes visible small gestures that when grouped together articulate a different future.

Fractal Nature brings together the artwork of nineteen artists who make up the historic A.I.R. National Artists Program. The exhibition represents the broad and diverse concerns that each artist is engaged with at the moment. Some artworks refer to the vulnerability of the body, violence against the mind, and social and gender expectations. Others call upon the quotidian moments, intimate and ordinary, the sacred and geometric forces within nature, and the celebratory, despite the difficulties life may bring. The National Members’ artworks reflect individual fractal patterns that when experienced unified within the gallery reveal a multiplicity of profoundly simple, yet powerful, gestures and interactions.

The gallery is currently open by appointment only. To book an appointment, click here.

Patricia Margarita Hernández is an artist, curator, and researcher based in Brooklyn, NY. Her work, which is often grounded in collaboration, focuses on the intersections of design, climate change, and feminist theory. Most recently, she was an Assistant Curator at Dia Art Foundation, New York, NY. Collaborative projects include Alliance of the Southern Triangle (A.S.T.), a platform for artists and architects focused on speculative urbanism and climate change. Hernández has organized exhibitions, public programs, and projects at A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; Dia Art Foundation, Beacon, New York; the Pérez Art Museum Miami; P!, New York, NY; and the Sharjah Biennial 13, UAE; among others; and online as part of Strelka Magazine and Institute, Moscow, RUS; SFMOMA’s Open Space, San Francisco, CA; Art Papers, Atlanta, GA; and The Miami Rail. Hernández holds a master’s degree from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.

View the Press Release here.

Public Program

Patricia M. Hernández on "Fractal Nature"

Friday, June 25, 2021 at 6:30 PM ET via Zoom

In this curator’s talk, Hernández will discuss her exhibition, the National Members’ artworks, and the lessons to be learned from nature’s fractal forms, from the roots of trees to the synapses of the brain. Looking to adrienne maree brown’s writings on fractals, Hernández situates the 2021 National Members Exhibition as a fractal occurrence, a platform for dialogue and exchange which makes visible small gestures that when grouped together articulate a different future.

To register for this event, click here.

To learn more, click here.

Photography: Sebastian Bach