This week we welcome Beatrice Glow, a New York and Bay Area-based multidisciplinary artist who creates sculptural installations, textiles, emerging media works, and olfactory experiences to envision a more just and thriving world. Her practice includes examinations of archives and collaborations with culture bearers and researchers. An American of Taiwanese heritage, she questions the visual and material languages of power. Recent solo exhibitions have taken place at the New-York Historical Society and Baltimore Museum of Art, amongst others. Her work has been supported by organizations such as Creative Capital, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, and the Fulbright Program.
Her current project, “When Our Rivers Meet,” is on view at the New-York Historical Society through August 18. Resulting from a deep dive into the Society’s collections, this body of work reckons with the 400th anniversary of the establishment of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam in present-day Lower Manhattan, from both local and global perspectives. Working in conversation with a group of nine culture bearers, artists, and scholars whose heritages were impacted by the Dutch colonial enterprise, Glow has created a series of seven parade float maquettes, among additional works, that envision an alternative commemoration of the anniversary. The works employ a compelling combination of centuries-old craft techniques and cutting-edge technologies. Glow sculpted the parade float maquettes in virtual reality (VR) and 3D-printed them. The compositions reflect upon records of the 1909 Hudson-Fulton Celebration parades, which marked the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage and the 100th anniversary of Robert Fulton’s steamship up the Hudson River. Many of them reference allegorical depictions of the four continents from the 17th through 19th centuries, which advanced racial stereotypes and implied social hierarchies, as well as other objects like games and toys from the Society’s collection.
“Beatrice Glow’s work situates New York’s Dutch colonial history within a global context and brings together multiple perspectives to reflect on its meaning,” said Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of the New-York Historical Society. “Commemorations are opportunities to assess our collective histories and imagine future possibilities. Glow’s artistic practice highlights the importance of learning from the past, which is critical for engaged participation in democratic societies.”
“This residency provided me the opportunity to study New-York Historical’s remarkable collections and to collaborate with culture bearers, as well as the Museum’s dedicated team, in the creation of a new body of work that reconsiders dominant historical narratives through a contemporary lens,” said Glow. “This multivocal exhibition centers underrepresented stories previously eclipsed by the long-lasting impacts of Dutch colonial enterprises. For me, artmaking is about awakening empathy, solidarity, and care.” See more of Glow’s work on the artist’s website and Instagram.
