Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU premiers new fall exhibitions

Chloe Hawkins, Spectrum Editor

A wide array of new art exhibitions greeted Richmond locals at the season premiere of the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU on Sept. 9.

The ICA opened three new exhibitions for the fall season: Naima Green’s “I Keep Missing My Water,” Rafael Domenech’s “The Medium is the Massage,” and dana washington queen’s “Resume at the Point of Interruption.”

“Art, for me, is a way to communicate — and communication is so important,” washington queen said.

“Resume at the Point of Interruption” explores the form of basketball, washington queen said. They played the sport as a child, and said it formed their identity and a lot of their life perspective. 

“The exhibition takes the form of basketball and makes you think of the linkages to the Black body,” washington queen said. “Performance, spectatorship and how the Black body is always bound to labor and production.” 

Washington queen’s exhibition uses basketball as a “connective tissue” to talk about the connection between the historic enslaved body and mainstream sports entertainment. 

“In basketball a lot of the players are African American,” washington queen said. “I really want to talk about the issues and ideas around spectatorship, surveillance and labor.” 

Washington queen said they started teaching themselves the rules of photography in 2012 and transitioned to video four years later. 

“I’m self taught, primarily,” washington queen said. “But it was a three year master’s program where I got to get acquainted with installation and exhibitions.”

ICA employee Nads Neman is most excited for Rafael’s “The Medium is the Massage” since they have put a lot of effort into installing it, according to Neman. They said the exhibition is not just for display, but is also an interactive self-publishing pavilion where people can really engage with the piece. 

Neman said the personal feeling of the ICA is what makes it stand out from other art museums in Richmond. 

“The thing about the ICA is that it’s small within its scope and field,” Neman said. “When people walk in, they have a really intimate experience, which I think is cool.”

“The Medium is the Massage” curator Sarah Rifky stated in an email that her job entails taking care of artists, artworks and processes of research and production.

“It starts with thinking about the relationship between art works, questions and people,” Rifky stated. “Also working collaboratively with my curatorial team at the ICA to manifest our mission that lies at the intersection between art and public education.”

Rifky said during her speech at the season premiere that she is happy to celebrate this season’s opening along with her one year anniversary at the ICA. 

“Over this past year my own understanding of contemporary art has been expanded,” Rifky said. “As an institute we challenge the assumption of what art is.” 

In addition to upcoming exhibitions, the ICA’s programs consist of audio, video and music, according to Rifky.

“I Keep Missing My Water” by Naima Green explores the emphasis on the senses, intimacy and sensuality,  Green said. 

“It’s both about interpersonal intimacy with a partner or friend,” Green said. “It’s also about the ways that we can come together as communities.” 

Green said she was encouraged to create art and started at a young age.  

“From a really early age I was given a lot of materials to play with,” Green said. “I took my first photo class when I was 9 at the Harlem School of the Arts.”

Green got a master’s degree in art education at Columbia University Teacher’s College in 2014, she said. Her collaboration with the ICA began when she met with ICA curator Amber Esseiva virtually in 2020. 

Green said she’s been in production for this exhibition opening ever since. There’s not just one perspective to “I Keep Missing my Water,” according to Green. 

“It’s more about hoping that there’s a lot of different entry points for people to reflect on,” Green said. “I hope people take away whatever feels challenging and leave them thinking.” 

ICA season premiere attendee and VCU freshman student Keyana Jacobs said she resonated most with Washington-Queen’s “Resume at the Point of Interruption.” It was touching to see Black queer people represented, Jacobs said. 

“I’ve had the privilege of seeing people like me on TV growing up,” Jacobs said. “It’s so heartbreaking to think about the Black queers that don’t have the opportunity to see themselves in a museum.” 

Jacobs was very emotional after seeing the exhibitions, and expressed gratitude for the space that the ICA creates for artists. 

“I did tear up a little but because I was grateful for that,” Jacobs said. “And just grateful for places like this giving artists the creative outlet they need.”