“Vessel Memories” at The Border Gallery

Participating artists: Amanda Nedham, Mattia Barbieri, and Sa’dia Rehman

Curated by Jamie Martinez

Nov 8 – Dec 1, 2019

The Border is pleased to announce Vessel Memories,  a group exhibition featuring sculptures by Amanda Nedham, paintings by Mattia Barbieri and drawings by Sa’dia Rehman curated by Jamie Martinez.

Our subconscious holds the weight of withheld insight and information that eventually manifests into our consciousness—resulting in a recalibration of oneself and fuels into a more robust sense of self-awareness. Using mechanisms and practices to access the subconscious we are leading a route towards self-revelation and raw introspection. Our bodies act as vessels, entities that carry the profusion of mental and emotional mass that we accumulate as time passes by. With the exhibition, visitors become privy to the subconscious-psyche of the participating artists through experiencing the intimate physical embodiments of the vessel they’ve created.

 Utilizing the Japanese Zen practice of Ikebana as a philosophical and formal reference, Mattia Barbieri’s, low-chromatic and balanced, still life paintings—depicting containers staged with branches—evoke visceral, melancholic tranquility. Sa’dia Rehman’s drawings optically encapsulate the viewer’s gaze by providing a hypnotic visual choreography that is influenced by the notion of belonging. Amanda Nedham’s Aloe plants and cigarette animals are carefully crafted whimsical episodes that speak about an experience that shed light on an initial reticence towards regeneration transformed into a sense of irritation when stagnancy takes place. The idea of letting a part of you go as a means to catalyze growth is conveyed with the supplement of her narrative written by the “Imaginary Peacekeeper”.

Amanda Nedham completed her BFA at OCAD University in Printmaking, her MFA at RISD in Painting, and resides in Brooklyn. Her practice is interdisciplinary with an emphasis on drawing and sculpture. Nedham recently published a book of letters and drawings titled, My Boyfriend is a Peacekeeper, and is currently working on a book of poems and drawings dedicated to Dian Fossey. Recent exhibitions include I’ll draw you a fly at Field Projects (NYC), Frida Smoked a t Invisible-Exports (NYC), and Extract IV Young Art Prize at GL Strand (Copenhagen). Nedham recently attended the Wassaic Artist Project residency and the ARTHA studio residency. She runs workshops on alternative love letters in New York City and regularly curates. 

Mattia Barbieri (Brescia, 1985), lives and works between Milano and New York. First and Second Degree in Visual Arts, Academy of Fine Arts of Brera, Milan. Among the Solo show: 2019, The Butter Monk, Pablo’s Birthday Gallery, New York: 2017, Le Stelle Senza il Tramonto, Palazzo Ranzanici; DUE * The Full Frontal, Pablo’s Birthday Gallery, New York; 2016; Tango for the Shadow, Milano; 2014, Vedute, The New Fragrance Galleria +, Bologna; 2013, Pitture Domestiche, Federico Luger Gallery, Milano; 2007 Apero’l Barbieri and Bicipiti Di Stracciatella in 2006, 42 Gallery, Modena. Groupshow: 2018, Ixion, Museum of Contemporary Art of Lissone, Lissone; 2016, By The Way, Pac, Milano; 2014 VIII Biennale, Mam, Mantova; 2010, 2nd Moscow International Biennale, Winzavod Contemporary Art Center; Winner of Lissone Prize 2012. An active member of the magazine E il Topo.

Sa’dia Rehman (b. Queens, NY) has shared  work nationally and internationally at venues such as Twelve Gates Gallery (2019), The Kitchen (2018), Aicon (2018), Alwan for the Arts (2018), Center for Book Arts (2015), Local Projects (2015), Los Angeles Sony Theater (2015), Taubman Museum (2013), Queens Museum (2012), Brooklyn Museum (2010) and Pakistan National Council of the Arts, Islamabad (2006), among others. Rehman was a nominee of the 2017 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant, a recipient of Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Grant (2018), Meredith Morabito and Henrietta Mantooth Fellowship (2018) and Ann Hamilton Travel Grant (2016). And has been awarded residencies at the NARS Foundation (2019), Edward Albee Foundation (2018), Byrdcliffe Woodstock (2018), Vermont Studio Center (2018), Rasquache Residency (2016), ASI/LMCC & Creative Capital (2011) and AIM Bronx Museum (2008). Rehman’s work has been featured in the NYTimes, Harper’s, Art Papers and ColorLines. Rehman received a MA from City College, CUNY (2006) and MFA from Ohio State University (2017). Upcoming exhibitions include: Five Myles, Brooklyn (October 19 – December 16, 2019) and National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC (May 26-October 30, 2020).