Andrea Bowers
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Biography
Born 1965 in Wilmington, OH
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CAOver the last 20 years Andrea Bowers has gained an international reputation as an artist and social activist. For Bowers, political engagement and artistic expression are inseparable. Her practice, which includes drawings, videos and installations, addresses a wide range of relevant socio-political issues from women’s and worker’s rights and the arms industry, to immigration politics and the climate crisis. Storytelling is integral to the work, and part of her activism consists of highlighting the narratives of resistance and rebellion.
Bowers has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (2024); Galleria d’Arte Moderna Milano in collaboration with Fondazione Furla, Milan (2022); The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2022); Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2021/2022); Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach (2020); Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst, Bremen (2019/2020); Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati (2017); Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton, Paris (2014); Wiener Secession, Vienna (2007); and The Power Plant, Toronto (2007). Bowers has exhibited internationally in biennials and major institutional group exhibitions, including Kunstmuseum Bonn (2023); Hayward Gallery, London (2023); Kunstmueum Ravensburg (2023); Kuntsmuseum Wolfsburg (2022); Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2022); Berkeley Art Museum (2021); Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2021); Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf (2020); Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2018); Documenta 14, Fridericianum, Kassel (2017); Triennale Milano, Milan (2017); Aspen Art Museum (2016); and Albertina, Vienna (2015). Bowers’ work is held in the collections of The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; MoMA, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Museum Of Contemporary Art, Chicago, among others.
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Works
My Name Means Future_2020 from Andrea Bowers on Vimeo.
Andrea Bowers
My Name Means Future, 2020Single-channel HD video with color and sound51:06 minEdition of 5 + 2 APB-ABOWERS-.20-0002For Andrea Bowers, political engagement and artistic expression are inseparable. Her work frequently highlights narratives of resistance and rebellion, a prime example being her featured film 'My Name Means Future',...For Andrea Bowers, political engagement and artistic expression are inseparable. Her work frequently highlights narratives of resistance and rebellion, a prime example being her featured film 'My Name Means Future', which focuses on youth activists involved in the movement to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline in South Dakota, which runs through sacred Native American land. Over a four-day period, Bowers traveled with the activists to sacred places in South Dakota, documenting the landscapes and histories of these sites, and the personal as well as political issues that arise around them. One activist is the particular focus of the documentary, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe named Tokato Iron Eyes, whose first name means Future in the Lakota language.
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Für Andrea Bowers sind politisches Engagement und künstlerischer Ausdruck untrennbar miteinander verbunden. In ihrer Arbeit beleuchtet sie häufig Erzählungen von Widerstand und Rebellion. Ein Paradebeispiel dafür ist ihr Spielfilm 'My Name Means Future', der junge Aktivistinnen und Aktivisten in den Mittelpunkt stellt, deren Bewegung die Dakota Access Pipeline in South Dakota zu stoppen versucht, die durch das heilige Land der amerikanischen Ureinwohner verläuft. Über einen Zeitraum von vier Tagen reiste Bowers mit den Aktivisten zu heiligen Orten in South Dakota und dokumentierte die Landschaften und die Geschichte dieser Orte sowie die persönlichen und politischen Probleme, die rund um sie entstehen. Im Mittelpunkt des Dokumentarfilms steht ein Aktivist, ein Mitglied des Stammes der Standing Rock Sioux namens Tokato Iron Eyes, dessen Vorname in der Sprache der Lakota Zukunft bedeutet.Exhibitions
2020 Andrea Bowers grief and hope, Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach.NewsExhibitionsExternal ExhibitionsPressPublicationsVideo