10 Mar Relational Artistic Practice: The New Terence Nance Exhibit

BY SOPHIA ABRAHAM-RAVESON

On March 10, an exciting new multimedia exhibit is opening in Philadelphia at the Institute of Contemporary Art. Terence Nance: Swarm is co-organized by BlackStar Projects and curated by the organization’s Chief Executive & Artistic Officer, Maori Karmael Holmes; the exhibit will feature six large-scale, multi-channel videos and installations that Nance has reimagined specially for the exhibit. 

Terence Nance is a multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker, best known for his 2012 film An Oversimplification of Her Beauty and his 2018 HBO television series Random Acts of Flyness.  

Nance is no stranger to Philadelphia–while he hails from Texas, he has been screening film work at Philly’s own BlackStar Film Festival nearly every year since its inception. When speaking to the New York Times about the festival, Nance said, “It was that yearly summer touch point in Philly for those of us interested in the project of Black cinema to get together, kick it and watch things that are pursuing a Black cinema language…That just doesn’t exist anywhere else and on this scale.” 

It only makes sense that Nance and BlackStar founder Maori Karmael Holmes would collaborate to create and execute Nance’s first ever solo exhibit. 

The exhibition opens with a new and never-before-seen two-channel installation called Can’t Tell These Kids Nothing, featuring video of the poet Fred Moten and Nance’s own mother, Vickie Washington. Other featured works include a short film titled Univitellin presented within a recreated bedroom, a projection screen showing excerpts from Nance’s various past works entitled From the Void, and his 2015 short film Swimming in Your Skin Again which features movement work and original music by Nance’s brother, Norvis Junior. 

As you can probably tell, community is key for Nance. Collaborations with family members and friends is the norm for him, and this exhibition leans into that. The title of the exhibit, “Swarm,” is a reference to a Brooklyn-based artist group that Nance helped build in the 2000s. Nance and Holmes’ own long-term artistic relationship grounds this unique exhibit, as Holmes says, “Terence thrives in community, and I felt it was important to place that ethos at the forefront of this show…Terence defines [‘The Swarm’] as ‘Black or Black-adjacent people who find themselves in fractal, interlocking social networks in different cities.’”

The exhibition will be on view and free to the public at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania from March 10 – July 9, 2023.

Several special programs will accompany the exhibit, including a screening of a collection of Nance’s short films, a screening of An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, and Nance performing in concert at Union Transfer.

The full schedule of programming can be found on ICA’s website.

*Featured Image: Image of Terence Nance. Courtesy of BlackStar Projects.

---