Family Reunion

Pi Artworks London is pleased to present 'Family Reunion' curated by Jessica Ziskind. This exhibition continues the gallery’s commitment to supporting and forming partnerships with Goldsmiths MFA Curating students and alumni during the summer season. In this fifth collaboration, the exhibition recalls the ritual of coming together, one that transcends culture and geography, assuming different dynamics—some humorous, some somber, some celebratory, some born of necessity. Equally the idea of 'family' itself is multi-faceted, encompassing not only those we share blood with but also those with whom we choose to surround ourselves. Here, the work of Francis Almendárez, Fay Ballard, Jonny Briggs, Shinwook Kim, Yu Ping Kuo, Gur Piepskovitz, Angel Rose, Jo Scorah, Sally Waterman and Trystan Williams converges for this in-gathering of the clan.

The family dynamic is complex. When brought together all in one place those interactions are revealed. Bonds are strengthened, grudges linger, laughs are shared, traumas revisited, reconciliations start to look possible. The notion of family is at once universal and deeply individual, and through their work the artists explore those nuances. The power of cooking and sharing a meal together in sustaining traditions and histories; memories of love and loss evoked by personal possessions and domestic vignettes; a model of an abandoned childhood home, a deep cavity in its floorboards, unearthing personal and socio-political wounds; a final family portrait projected onto ice, melting away as it contemplates ideas of permanence and transience; the shuffle of tarot cards and personal photographs as past, present and future are decided; a pagan re-birthing ritual, celebrating and reclaiming those crucial first moments; photos fractured and askew; a mother torn from her motherland amidst socio-political crisis; the nightclub dance floor as a platform for connecting strangers; and snippets of conversation from the deep recesses of internet communities.