The Best Booths at 1-54 New York, From Leaf Assemblages to Invented Archaeological Finds - Article written by Harrisson Jacobs on Artnews

Paris-based 193 Gallery has dedicated its entire booth to Christa David, a New York– and Atlanta-based artist, on the rise. David’s work is currently featured in the group show “Passengers in Transit,” a collateral event to this year’s Venice Biennale, which is centered around interlinked explorations of memory, place, gender, and identity. In her work, David explores those topics through collage. In many of the works at 1-54, David repeatedly juxtaposes a portrait of herself kneeling before the camera in a white dress with archival photographs behind her, many of which have been pulled from National Geographic and other magazines, contemporary and vintage alike. There is David in front of an oversize flower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a golden ram, and palm trees, among other juxtapositions. In each, David mines the tension between the two images, challenging the viewer to contend with the associations and narratives they bring to each.
 
2 May 2024