Matthew Barney: Redoubt / Igshaan Adams: Kicking Dust

From May 19 to July 25, 2021, Hayward Gallery presents two distinctive solo exhibitions, Matthew Barney: Redoubt and Igshaan Adams: Kicking Dust.  

The exhibition Redoubt represents a major new direction for Matthew Barney, addressing themes as vast and varied as cosmology, ecology and the role of artistic creation. The exhibition is centred around a feature-length film and a series of monumental yet intricate sculptures cast from burned trees—including Sawtooth Battery (2019)—Barney’s first outdoor sculpture, presented on the Hayward Gallery’s terrace. In addition, the exhibition features over 40 intimately-scaled engravings and electroplated copper plates. 

The sculptures and engravings refer to and expand on the filmic scenario, which explores questions of access rights and trusteeship of common lands through the story of a wolf hunt. Shot in the frigid wilderness of Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, near to where Barney grew up, the film was inspired by the artist’s memories of the bitter dispute around the government-mandated reintroduction of wolves to central Idaho in the 1990s. The film reinterprets the myth of Diana, the goddess of the hunt, and Actaeon, a hunter who encounters her whilst she is bathing in the woods and is punished for his transgression. In the absence of dialogue, dance is a prominent language in the film and the characters’ movements often seem to anticipate and rehearse the events that follow. 

A redoubt is a type of defensive military fortification, which has also recently become associated with the American survivalist movement. As the title of both the film and the exhibition, it announces the artist’s interest in drawing on the mythologies of American culture, as well as classical and cosmic mythology, to explore land as a site of conflict and transformation. 

Kicking Dust is the first solo exhibition in the UK of South African artist Igshaan Adams. The artist’s cross-disciplinary practice combines weaving, sculpture, and installation whilst exploring concerns related to race, religion and sexuality. Influenced by Sufism, namely the idea of looking inwards to define oneself, Adams’ work draws on Islamic iconography. He balances this interest with an engagement with the histories of Creole communities in Cape Town and the legacy of apartheid. 

Consisting largely of new work produced on the occasion of the show, the exhibition is presented as an immersive installation comprised of suspended sculptures, large-scale floor weavings and tapestries. Kicking Dust explores the potential of woven material to reflect not only the multiplicities of Adams’ own identity but of broader cultural interchange.

The exhibition’s title references the “Rieldans”: an indigenous dance from the Northern Cape that is described as “dancing in the dust.” Cloud-like sculptures suspended from the gallery’s ceiling resonate with the image of dust erupting from the earth as dancers kick the ground.

Building on this sense of journeying, Adams has created pathways through the gallery with the placement of large-scale floor weavings. These are mapped from improvised footpaths, known as “desire lines,” on the borders of different Cape Town townships formed during the apartheid era. The pathways indicate that people of different races and religious beliefs repeatedly traverse into each other’s districts, despite the state’s efforts to separate them. The exhibition, according to the artist, “centres around the idea of the imprints that we collectively leave behind as we move through spaces, both private and public.” 

Matthew Barney: Redoubt is curated by Hayward Gallery Senior Curator Cliff Lauson, with Assistant Curator Katie Guggenheim and Curatorial Assistant Alyssa Bacon. The exhibition was originally organised by the Yale University Art Gallery.

Igshaan Adams: Kicking Dust is curated by Hayward Gallery Assistant Curator Tarini Malik, with Curatorial Assistant Marie-Charlotte Carrier.

Hayward Gallery is pleased to partner with the film streaming service and distributor, MUBI. As well as watching the film, Redoubt, in the exhibition, ticket holders can watch it on MUBI. 

Events:

Virtual studio visit with Igshaan Adams
Tuesday, May 25, 4pm BST
Hayward Gallery curator Marie-Charlotte Carrier and Igshaan Adams meet for an exclusive tour of the artist’s studio in Cape Town.
Hayward Gallery’s Instagram: @Hayward.Gallery, free

Matthew Barney in conversation 
Tuesday, June 1, 7pm BST
Hear the artist discuss his practice and the current exhibition with Hayward Gallery Senior Curator, Cliff Lauson. 
Zoom, 5 GBP, free for members and students but booking essential.

Kicking Dust panel discussion
Wednesday, June 16, 6:30pm BST
A panel discussion exploring Igshaan Adams’ approach to materiality. The Cape Town-based panelists include scholar Dr. Ala Alhourani, curators Josh Ginsburg and Dr Portia Malatjie, and cultural theorist Ashraj Jamal.

The event is held on the National Youth Day in South Africa: a day commemorating the Soweto Uprising of 1976. Tickets will be free of charge to all students.
Zoom, 5 GBP, free for members and students but booking essential.

Choreographing Redoubt
Monday, June 28, 7pm BST 
Join us for a conversation with dancer and choreographer, Eleanor Bauer, and writer, Filipa Ramos about Matthew Barney's latest film. 
Zoom, 5 GBP, free for members and students but booking essential.