Politics – Anthropology of the World's Fairs

The Museum of Modern Art in New York is currently hosting an exhibit by Bodys Isek Kingelez of miniature models of an imagined city. Working in Zaire in the 1970s, Kingelez (who died in 2015) created what he called “extreme maquettes” which were scenes and individual buildings of a city for the future, one in which creativity and an artistic imagination rued. Most interestingly, he created these models using common materials: paper, wood, old tin cans, plastic, and string. The show continues until January 1, 2019 and should be viewed by any miniaturist who enjoys having their opinions challenged in terms of what miniatures can tell us about creativity and the imagination.

Miniature art, small art, can have a big impact. One of the main reasons for this is because miniature art is hard to resist. It is easy in a museum of large paintings and sculptures to miss so many works because they all demand equal attention. But miniature works make you look: they draw you in and reward your attention. You have to get close and “enter” the works to get anything out of them.

And so the “WEE#RESIST” exhibit at Darren Scala’s gallery in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, offers in a tiny space some big ideas that can get lost in larger venues or with larger creations. A fine description of the works and the artists involved can be found at the gallery’s website. Here I want to provide images of the works and how they appear to the viewer, accompanied by some little comments.