In Past Show

Jimmie Durham: Various Items and Complaints at Serpentine Galleries

An internationally acclaimed artist, activist, and writer, Jimmie Durham draws upon his Native American heritage to create potent works that challenge and deconstruct Western hegemony. Durham, a Cherokee, was involved in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and served as a political organizer for the American Indian Movement. His artistic practice—which encompasses sculpture, installation, drawing, video, performance, and photography—can be seen as an extension of his political activism. Through objects, images, and words, he reveals the prejudices and assumptions of a Western-centric view of the world and gives voice to alternative, non-Western modes of thought. For example, in many of his works he uses stones to crush cars, furniture, or articles of clothing, subverting the historical Western paradigm of conquering nature through civilization and technological advancement