SAN DIEGO, CA — (September 25, 2023) Beginning October 21, British-American artist Danielle Dean will present her installation Bazar (2018) at the Institute of Contemporary Art, San Diego/North. Dean’s exhibition exposes the deeply entangled histories of colonialism, capitalism, and consumer culture. Drawing on imagery from nearly 150 years of retail catalogs produced by the legendary Parisian department store Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville (BHV), Bazar is comprised of a four-channel video accompanied by a series of life-size diorama-like vignettes. The exhibition will run through December 30, 2023 and is a continuation of ICA San Diego’s “Limitless Growth, Limited World” art season which examines consumption in our society.

Dean draws from the aesthetics and history of advertising, and from her multinational background—born to a Nigerian father and an English mother in Alabama, and brought up in a suburb of London. She received her MFA from California Institute of the Arts and is an alumna of the Whitney Independent Study Program and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. “The way Danielle combines historical research with the visuals and tactics of contemporary advertising–and of course, wit–makes Bazar a powerful vehicle for ICA San Diego’s continued exploration of systems of consumption and social value” says ICA San Diego curator, Jordan Karney Chaim.

ICA San Diego is pleased to announce it was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Grants for Arts Projects award to support Dean’s forthcoming exhibition and residency. Dean, an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Diego, will be the ICA’s first San Diego-based resident artist. Dean has been celebrated for her research-based installations incorporating video, painting, and performance that investigate legacies of colonialism and their effects on cultural production and capital accumulation. Incorporating the visual language and history of advertising, Dean sheds light on the ways technology, architecture, and media can function as tools of both oppression and resistance. Dean has exhibited extensively at institutions worldwide, including the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; SFMOMA; the Tate Britain; and was included in the 2022 Whitney Biennial.

As always, attendance to ICA San Diego is free to the public, as well as to a special monthly C You Saturday! family and community events where visitors can meet the artists and discover more about their artistic practices. A special C You Saturday! event featuring Dean and her work will be held October 21 from 4 - 8 p.m. at ICA San Diego/North in Encinitas.

About the Institute of Contemporary Art, San Diego

ICA San Diego is a platform for experimental art and learning with a mission to question everything. Founded in 2021, yet built on over 100 years of combined experience, our programming is cutting edge yet accessible; daring and thoughtful; challenging and inviting. Our exhibitions, installations, commissions, classes, and workshops reflect ICA San Diego’s commitment to engage the issues of the moment and provide a space for the community to come together and consider the world in which we live. ICA San Diego welcomes everyone to gather, learn, question, and experience the new. ICA San Diego is always free and open to the public. ICA San Diego / Central is located at 1439 El Prado in Balboa Park, and ICA San Diego / North is located at 1550 S. El Camino Real in Encinitas.

 

Contact:
Christine Martinez, 858-663-7887
(Press@icasandiego.org)
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