Parsons Presents the Storyteller

On January 29, Parsons The New School for Design will present The Storyteller, an exhibition exploring how artists use narrative to process and explain important social and political events. The exhibition, which will be on view at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons through April 29, features work by an international group of artists, including Cao Fei, Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller with filmmaker Mike Figgis, Omer Fast, Mounir Fatmi, Ryan Gander, Lamia Joreige, Joachim Koester, Emanuel Licha, Missing Books (Maria Barnas, Maxine Kopsa and Germaine Kruip), Steve Mumford, Adrian Paci, Michael Rakowitz, Liisa Roberts, and Hito Steyerl.

"The New School has long served as a haven for politically engaged artists," said Radhika Subramaniam, director of the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, Parsons' award-winning downtown exhibition and public programming center dedicated to generating an active dialogue on the role of art and design in the contemporary world. "The Storyteller connects with this tradition by bringing together powerful artists who, through their work, bear witness to the rapid, violent transformations of our time, and force us to consider the implications of these important events on our world."

Curated by Claire Gilman and Margaret Sundell and organized by iCI (Independent Curators International), The Storyteller explores notions of truth, justice, and the politics of representation through striking video, still photography, and multimedia. All of the works in the exhibition examine situations that are either in the process of unfolding or that continue to impact the lives of the artists or protagonists. In each work, these events are re-imagined and re-experienced through the artist's personal encounter or the character's narration.



"The curators of Storyteller initiated the project as a way to unite a group of influential contemporary artists who challenge our notions of objective truth," said Kate Fowle, executive director of iCI. "The exhibition enables visitors to experience important past and current world events from peoples' personal experiences and perspectives. With its rich history of fostering socially active art, The New School was a natural fit for the exhibition's New York run."

The works in The Storyteller engage a range of narrative strategies. In some cases, the story is a drama based on real events, as in Deller and Figgis' The Battle of Orgreave, a reenactment of the violent clashes between police and local plant workers in 1984 England, as well as the works of Gander and the collective called Missing Books. In other cases, the stories function less as reconstructions of the past than investigations into the relationship between past and present, as in the Roberts' What's the Time in Vyborg and Fast's Spielberg's List, a video exploring the experiences of extras in Stephen Spielberg's film Schindler's List. A third group, which includes Fei, Koester, Paci, and Fatmi, invokes the literary genres of fairy tales, photo essays, and folklore. Finally, other projects such as those by Joreige, Mumford, and Rakowitz involve active participants in contemporary political situations.

Multimedia works by Deller, Figgis, Fast, and Roberts will be presented in special screenings throughout the course of the exhibition. Parsons and iCI also will present a series of related programs during the exhibition's run. In addition, many New School courses will use the exhibition as a learning laboratory, hosting class meetings, discussions, and design charettes.

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