Publication Details

Art in the Age of Anxiety
Exhibition Guide
Paperback
229 pages, 82 visuals
16.5 x 11.5 cm
Arabic and English
Published by Sharjah Art Foundation, 2020

Overview

This exhibition booklet is a record of Art in the Age of Anxiety, an exhibition that brings together a global group of contemporary artists to explore the ways everyday devices, technologies and digital networks have altered our collective consciousness. The exhibition presents more than 60 works spanning sculpture, prints, video, virtual reality, robotics and algorithmic programs developed by more than 30 international artists.

The exhibition is curated by SAF Director of Collections and Senior Curator Omar Kholeif, and the design is created by architect—and Sharjah Biennial 13 participant—Todd Reisz.
Participating artists: Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Cory Arcangel, Jeremy Bailey, Wafaa Bilal, James Bridle, Antoine Catala, Douglas Coupland, Thomson & Craighead, Simon Denny, Aleksandra Domanović, Constant Dullaart, Electronic Disturbance Theater, Cao Fei, Oliver Laric, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Eva and Franco Mattes, Joshua Nathanson, Katja Novitskova, Trevor Paglen, Jon Rafman, Tabor Robak, Pamela Rosenkranz, Aura Satz, Bogosi Sekhukhuni, Jenna Sutela, UVA, Siebren Versteeg, Andrew Norman Wilson, Guan Xiao, and YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Kholeif, Omar

Omar Kholeif, PhD, CF FRSA, is an author and artist; a curator and cultural historian, and a broadcaster who has curated more than 100 exhibitions of visual art, architecture and digital culture.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Reisz, Todd

Todd Reisz is an architect and writer whose work often focuses on cities of the Arabian Peninsula, from both historical and contemporary perspectives.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Arcangel, Cory

Cory Arcangel employs a wide range of mediums to explore how video games and software can rapidly formulate new communities and traditions.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Bailey, Jeremy

Self-proclaimed ‘Famous New Media Artist’, Jeremy Bailey is a podcaster, venture socialist and the Head of Experience at FreshBooks.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Bilal, Wafaa

Wafaa Bilal is known internationally for his online performative and interactive works that provoke dialogue about international and interpersonal politics.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Catala, Antoine

Antoine Catala centres his works, ranging from ‘breathing’ installations to holograms and moving sculptures, around everyday communication tools and the ways humans consume media.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Coupland, Douglas


Douglas Coupland is a writer and artist best known for his observations on modern-day North American culture.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Thomson & Craighead 

Working together since 1993, multidisciplinary artist duo Jon Thomson and Alison Craighead produce art across video, sound, sculpture, installation and the virtual sphere.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Denny, Simon

Simon Denny’s work explores the cultures and values behind contemporary technologies.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Domanović, Aleksandra

Aleksandra Domanović works with sculpture, video and born-digital content, shedding light on the meaning of images and information that shift according to different contexts and historical weights.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Dullaart, Constant

Constant Dullaart reflects on the broad cultural and social effects of communication and image processing technologies while critically engaging the power structures of mega corporations.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Fei, Cao

Cao Fei investigates the intersection of technological development, popular culture and urban transformation in contemporary China. Fluctuating between the documentation of reality and the creation of fantasy, her video and installation work deals with the massive social pressures and modernisation of the changing urban landscape in China.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Laric, Oliver

In his drawings, videos and sculpture, multimedia artist Oliver Laric investigates the productive potential of the copy, the bootleg and the remix.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Lozano-Hemmer, Rafael

Media artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s interactive installations represent the intersection of architecture and performance art.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Eva & Franco Mattes

Artist duo Eva & Franco Mattes’ work analyses and responds to contemporary digital life, approaching its ethics and politics with dark humour.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Nathanson, Joshua

Joshua Nathanson’s large-scale paintings draw from diverse visual sources to bridge digital, real-world and psychological realms

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Paglen, Trevor

In an attempt to envision alternative futures, Trevor Paglen investigates the historical moments in which we are living.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Rafman, Jon

Artist and filmmaker Jon Rafman explores the paradoxes of modernity in his sculpture, videos and installations.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Rosenkranz, Pamela

Pamela Rosenkranz creates abstract sculptures, works on paper, videos and installations that reference the figurative by alluding to its malleable condition.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Satz, Aura

Artist and filmmaker Aura Satz works in film, sound, performance and sculpture in order to conceptualise a distributed, expanded and shared notion of voice.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Sekhukhuni, Bogosi

Conceptual artist Bogosi Sekhukhuni works from research to explore cultures and histories of technology.  

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Sutela, Jenna

Jenna Sutela works with words, sounds and living materials to create experimental installations and performances that bring together biology, technology and cosmology.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

UVA

UVA’s diverse body of work integrates new technologies with traditional media such as painting, sculpture, performance and site-specific installation.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Versteeg, Siebren

Siebren Versteeg creates interactive installations by processing digital information, generating codes, manipulating algorithms and allowing the computer to create artworks.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Norman Wilson, Andrew

Andrew Norman Wilson’s work in video, photography, performance and sculpture questions corporate hierarchy, the classification of labour, and the uses and effects of technology.

Art in the Age of Anxiety

Xiao, Guan

Multi-media artist Guan Xiao primarily works with video and sculpture.