Work by Aziz + Cucher is on view in the group exhibition “Suffering From Realness” at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts. Opening on April 13, 2019, the exhibition features artworks by Aziz + Cucher, Cassils, Adriana Corral, Joey Fauerso, Jeffrey Gibson, Hayv Kahraman, Jennifer Karady, Titus Kaphar, Robert Longo, Christopher Mir, MPA, Wangechi Mutu, Allison Schulnik, Keith Sklar, Robert Taplin, and Vincent Valdez.
Suffering From Realness explores the politics of representation — and the ways in which artists use the body to grasp at and re-center the “aura of realness” in an age of uncertainty. The title for the exhibition is borrowed from the song “Ni**as in Paris” by Jay-Z and Kanye West in which West raps: “Doctors say I’m the illest / ‘Cause I’m suffering from realness.” This prophetic lyric ended up signaling the musician’s spiraling ego, over-the-top public behavior, and mental health issues. But the phrase also begs the question, “What exactly is realness?” In her most political group exhibition to date, curator Denise Markonish explores the fluidity of identity and the media rituals performed to tell the narrative of “realness.”
“Suffering From Realness”
Exhibition opens April 13, 2019
Reception on Saturday, May 25, 2019 [Free and open to the public]
MASS MoCA
1040 MASS MoCA WAY
North Adams, MA 01247
massmoca.org