Jeneen Frei Njootli
UB ART GALLERIES
Thousands of tiny loose glass beads, amounting to the artist’s body weight, were dispersed throughout the Kunstverein Braunschweig, where Fighting for the title not to be pending was first shown in 2020. The beads could be found all around, piled up in corners, lined up in floor cracks, nestled in gaps between rooms and underfoot crevasses—and perhaps tucked in visitors’ pockets. During the show, many gradually disappeared; others infiltrated the institution and neighboring communities—furtively present yet beyond reach—and will for years to come. Shown in the 2021 New Museum Triennial in New York, the installation enacted the same protocol to continue its dispersion.
In this work, Frei Njootli enlists beads, a traditional material that carries the memory of the artist’s ancestors and invokes practices of trade, politics, ceremony, adornment, and the body. The artist draws attention to the difficulty—and necessity—of holding down a space and calling it your own while pointing to the price paid, physically and psychically, for this insistence.
At Anderson Gallery, Fighting for the title not to be pending follows its life trajectory in corners, cracks, and architectural incidents of the neighborhood schoolhouse-turned-gallery, insistently yet gently calling for visitors’ attention, asking us to tune in, sense, and reflect on its programmed disappearance-by-exhibition. In this, the artist centers the body in an intricate web of hospitalities spanning institutions, cities, homes, and imaginaries.
BIOGRAPHY
Jeneen Frei Njootli is a 2SQ Vuntut Gwitchin, Czech and Dutch artist who lives and works in Old Crow, Yukon. They have worked with many mentors and knowledge holders over the years in addition to holding an MFA from the University of British Columbia and a BFA from Emily Carr University, Vancouver. Invested in Indigenous sovereignty, decolonization and the production, dissemination, and embodiment of images, Frei Njootli’s practice takes the forms of performance, sound, textiles, images, collaboration, workshops, and feral scholarship. Their work has been presented in many galleries, museums and artist-run centers around the world, including the New Museum, New York (2021); Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, Alaska (2021); Vancouver Art Gallery (2021); Kunstverein Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany (2021); PLATFORM Centre, Winnipeg (2020); Remai Modern, Saskatoon (2019); Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver (2018); Fierman Gallery, New York (2018); Gallery TPW, Toronto (2018) as well as the Toronto Biennial of Art (2020) and MOMENTA Biennale de l’image, Montréal (2019). In 2017 they were recognized for their work by the Vancouver Contemporary Artist Society.
Jeneen Frei Njootli
UB ART GALLERIES
Thousands of tiny loose glass beads, amounting to the artist’s body weight, were dispersed throughout the Kunstverein Braunschweig, where Fighting for the title not to be pending was first shown in 2020. The beads could be found all around, piled up in corners, lined up in floor cracks, nestled in gaps between rooms and underfoot crevasses—and perhaps tucked in visitors’ pockets. During the show, many gradually disappeared; others infiltrated the institution and neighboring communities—furtively present yet beyond reach—and will for years to come. Shown in the 2021 New Museum Triennial in New York, the installation enacted the same protocol to continue its dispersion.
In this work, Frei Njootli enlists beads, a traditional material that carries the memory of the artist’s ancestors and invokes practices of trade, politics, ceremony, adornment, and the body. The artist draws attention to the difficulty—and necessity—of holding down a space and calling it your own while pointing to the price paid, physically and psychically, for this insistence.
At Anderson Gallery, Fighting for the title not to be pending follows its life trajectory in corners, cracks, and architectural incidents of the neighborhood schoolhouse-turned-gallery, insistently yet gently calling for visitors’ attention, asking us to tune in, sense, and reflect on its programmed disappearance-by-exhibition. In this, the artist centers the body in an intricate web of hospitalities spanning institutions, cities, homes, and imaginaries.
BIOGRAPHY
Jeneen Frei Njootli is a 2SQ Vuntut Gwitchin, Czech and Dutch artist who lives and works in Old Crow, Yukon. They have worked with many mentors and knowledge holders over the years in addition to holding an MFA from the University of British Columbia and a BFA from Emily Carr University, Vancouver. Invested in Indigenous sovereignty, decolonization and the production, dissemination, and embodiment of images, Frei Njootli’s practice takes the forms of performance, sound, textiles, images, collaboration, workshops, and feral scholarship. Their work has been presented in many galleries, museums and artist-run centers around the world, including the New Museum, New York (2021); Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, Alaska (2021); Vancouver Art Gallery (2021); Kunstverein Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany (2021); PLATFORM Centre, Winnipeg (2020); Remai Modern, Saskatoon (2019); Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver (2018); Fierman Gallery, New York (2018); Gallery TPW, Toronto (2018) as well as the Toronto Biennial of Art (2020) and MOMENTA Biennale de l’image, Montréal (2019). In 2017 they were recognized for their work by the Vancouver Contemporary Artist Society.