Projects: Tadáskía
May 24–October 14, 2024
Tadáskía. Courtesy the artist and Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo/Rio De Janeiro. Photo: Ruy Teixeira
Tadáskía, ave preta mistica mystical black bird, 2022. From a series of sixty-one sheets with pencil, colored pencil, pastel, and spray paint on torn paper. Each approx. 25 11/16 x 19 11/16" (65.2 x 50 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Fund for the twenty-first century, 2024. Courtesy the Museum of Modern Art, Department of Imaging Services. Photo: Martin Parsekian © 2024 Tadáskía.
MoMA, Floor 1, 1 North
Plan your visit“I’m interested in the passage from one thing to another,” artist Tadáskía has said. Change, or mudança, in Tadáskía’s native Brazilian Portuguese, lies at the center of her multidisciplinary work.
Projects: Tadáskía features the artist’s expansive unbound book, ave preta mística mystical black bird (2022), which places freeform drawings in dialogue with her own poetic, bilingual text. From one sheet to the next, we follow the narrative’s winged protagonist on a flight “towards a journey of freedom,” informed by the artist’s lived experience as a Black trans woman.
For this exhibition, the artist’s first solo presentation in the United States, she has produced a monumental wall drawing and a set of sculptures in response to the gallery space. While her vigorous mark-making encourages us to trace her coursing, shifting lines, the organic materials used in her sculptures evoke the ephemeral life cycles of nature. Alongside the central role of change, as Tadáskía asserts, “the main character in the work is time.”
The exhibition is organized by Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and Ana Torok, the Sue and Eugene Mercy, Jr. Assistant Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints, MoMA, with the assistance of Kiki Teshome, Curatorial Assistant, the Studio Museum in Harlem.
Audio
In this audio guide, hear Curatorial Assistant Kiki Teshome talk about Projects: Tadáskía.
When situated at the opening of the ‘Tadaskia’ exhibiition, you will find the abstract composition continues along all the four walls of the exhibition. To your left, the introductory text on the amongst the colorful symbols on the first wall of the gallery. The text reads,
Change—or mudança in Tadáskía’s native language of Brazilian Portuguese—lies at the center of the multidisciplinary artist’s practice. In her work across drawing, sculpture, and other media, Tadáskía employs an improvisational approach, conveying a sense of fluidity through her dynamic mark-making, nuanced imagery, and kaleidoscopic palette. Rather than pursue a complete or final image, the artist has explained: “I’m interested in the passage from one thing to another.” Tadáskía’s unbound book ave preta mística mystical black bird (2022) forms the centerpiece of this presentation. The work recounts a fantastical tale of “winged transformation,” and pairs the artist’s freeform drawings alongside her poetic, bilingual text. The images depicted in her colorful compositions, which she often initiates with closed eyes, vary and morph from one sheet to the next. They might appear as crescent moons and brilliant suns, or as ambiguous abstract shapes. Through the story, we are invited to follow its titular ave preta, or black bird, on her flight across earthly and divine realms, “towards a journey of freedom,” informed by the artist’s lived experience as a Black trans woman. For Projects: Tadáskía, the artist has produced an expansive wall drawing and a set of sculptures in response to this exhibition space. While her vigorous mark-making encourages us to trace her coursing and shifting lines, the organic materials used in her sculptures evoke the ephemeral life cycles of nature. Alongside the central role of change, as Tadáskía herself asserts, “the main character in the work is time.” The exhibition is organized by Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and Ana Torok, the Sue and Eugene Mercy, Jr. Assistant Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints, MoMA, with the assistance of Kiki Teshome, Curatorial Assistant, the Studio Museum in Harlem. The Elaine Dannheisser Projects Series is made possible in part by the Elaine Dannheisser Foundation and The Young Patrons Council of The Museum of Modern Art.
Hear from the artist about her influences, process, and approach. Scan the QR code to listen, in either English or Portuguese, on the free Bloomberg Connects app. The Bloomberg Connects digital experience is made possible through the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies.
For related content, programs, and audio as well as Portuguese translations, visit moma.org/Tadaskia.
Projects: Tadáskía
May 24–October 14, 2024
Tadáskía. Courtesy the artist and Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo/Rio De Janeiro. Photo: Ruy Teixeira
Tadáskía, ave preta mistica mystical black bird, 2022. From a series of sixty-one sheets with pencil, colored pencil, pastel, and spray paint on torn paper. Each approx. 25 11/16 x 19 11/16" (65.2 x 50 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Fund for the twenty-first century, 2024. Courtesy the Museum of Modern Art, Department of Imaging Services. Photo: Martin Parsekian © 2024 Tadáskía.
MoMA, Floor 1, 1 North
Plan your visit“I’m interested in the passage from one thing to another,” artist Tadáskía has said. Change, or mudança, in Tadáskía’s native Brazilian Portuguese, lies at the center of her multidisciplinary work.
Projects: Tadáskía features the artist’s expansive unbound book, ave preta mística mystical black bird (2022), which places freeform drawings in dialogue with her own poetic, bilingual text. From one sheet to the next, we follow the narrative’s winged protagonist on a flight “towards a journey of freedom,” informed by the artist’s lived experience as a Black trans woman.
For this exhibition, the artist’s first solo presentation in the United States, she has produced a monumental wall drawing and a set of sculptures in response to the gallery space. While her vigorous mark-making encourages us to trace her coursing, shifting lines, the organic materials used in her sculptures evoke the ephemeral life cycles of nature. Alongside the central role of change, as Tadáskía asserts, “the main character in the work is time.”
The exhibition is organized by Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and Ana Torok, the Sue and Eugene Mercy, Jr. Assistant Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints, MoMA, with the assistance of Kiki Teshome, Curatorial Assistant, the Studio Museum in Harlem.
Audio
In this audio guide, hear Curatorial Assistant Kiki Teshome talk about Projects: Tadáskía.
When situated at the opening of the ‘Tadaskia’ exhibiition, you will find the abstract composition continues along all the four walls of the exhibition. To your left, the introductory text on the amongst the colorful symbols on the first wall of the gallery. The text reads,
Change—or mudança in Tadáskía’s native language of Brazilian Portuguese—lies at the center of the multidisciplinary artist’s practice. In her work across drawing, sculpture, and other media, Tadáskía employs an improvisational approach, conveying a sense of fluidity through her dynamic mark-making, nuanced imagery, and kaleidoscopic palette. Rather than pursue a complete or final image, the artist has explained: “I’m interested in the passage from one thing to another.” Tadáskía’s unbound book ave preta mística mystical black bird (2022) forms the centerpiece of this presentation. The work recounts a fantastical tale of “winged transformation,” and pairs the artist’s freeform drawings alongside her poetic, bilingual text. The images depicted in her colorful compositions, which she often initiates with closed eyes, vary and morph from one sheet to the next. They might appear as crescent moons and brilliant suns, or as ambiguous abstract shapes. Through the story, we are invited to follow its titular ave preta, or black bird, on her flight across earthly and divine realms, “towards a journey of freedom,” informed by the artist’s lived experience as a Black trans woman. For Projects: Tadáskía, the artist has produced an expansive wall drawing and a set of sculptures in response to this exhibition space. While her vigorous mark-making encourages us to trace her coursing and shifting lines, the organic materials used in her sculptures evoke the ephemeral life cycles of nature. Alongside the central role of change, as Tadáskía herself asserts, “the main character in the work is time.” The exhibition is organized by Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and Ana Torok, the Sue and Eugene Mercy, Jr. Assistant Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints, MoMA, with the assistance of Kiki Teshome, Curatorial Assistant, the Studio Museum in Harlem. The Elaine Dannheisser Projects Series is made possible in part by the Elaine Dannheisser Foundation and The Young Patrons Council of The Museum of Modern Art.
Hear from the artist about her influences, process, and approach. Scan the QR code to listen, in either English or Portuguese, on the free Bloomberg Connects app. The Bloomberg Connects digital experience is made possible through the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies.
For related content, programs, and audio as well as Portuguese translations, visit moma.org/Tadaskia.
MoMA, Floor 1, 1 North
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