For Nikita Gale’s first solo museum exhibition, the Los Angeles-based artist takes the common, shared experience of music concerts as a starting point for questioning more abstract ideas of spectacle, desire, and refusal. Gale’s research-based practice frequently centers on readily available objects and ubiquitous consumer technologies assembled in unexpected ways. In the installation at CAAM, theatrical lighting trusses are transformed into sculpture, and programmed lights “dance” to an unheard soundtrack of music by Tina Turner, an icon the artist has been referencing for over six years. By isolating the visual language of live performance in the gallery and separating it from the expectation of audio, Gale creates an uncanny experience that serves as a meditation on the limits of the body, the demands of celebrity, and silence as a political position.

Nikita Gale: PRIVATE DANCER is curated by Cameron Shaw, Executive Director, CAAM.

Video

CAAM recently interviewed Gale about the show: