Modern Forms is pleased to announce a new partnership with AmazoniAlerta, a start-up NGO dedicated to advancing the legal defense of Indigenous rights, lands and communities within the Brazilian Amazon. The NGO empowers local communities to safely gather evidence of violations of their lands and environmental crimes which AmazoniAlerta’s legal team reviews. The most actionable evidence is the deployed in legal actions to advance the legal protection of the lands and communities in question.
The NGO is currently engaged in a year-long trial of its operations in the Araribóia Indigenous Land in Maranhão state, Brazil, home to the Guajajara People and the largely isolated Awá People. Their lands are amongst the most invaded indigenous lands in the Amazon.
Modern Forms, in collaboration with selected artists and partner galleries, will, on a regular basis, offer donated work for sale in order to raise funds for the NGO.
Our first offering for December 2022 is a work by Billy Fraser.
Billy Fraser
Crystal Complex & My Crystal Complex (Diptych)
Crystals and resin
38.5 x 29 x 4 cm (each tablet)
Sales information:
£2,750 + VAT
25% of income from sales is returned to the participating artist, 75% is donated to AmazoniAlerta.
Sales enquiries: nick@modernforms.org
About the work:
The work comprises two collection of crystals, each suspended in a resin tablet that are presented alongside each other.
As Fraser explains, “‘My Crystal Complex’ comprises my own childhood collection of gemstones suspended in resin imbued with positive energy and nostalgia. Alongside sits ‘Crystal Complex’ an entire collection of gemstones acquired at auction, its aura and energy a mystery.
The two separate works act as a comparison. For those who are invested in the energy and potential of crystals a question is raised, what happens to these forces once the stones have been encased in resin, are those energies trapped forever, are they dependent on touch, or much like a sage ceremony are the crystals cleansed by the polyester?
I am deeply fascinated by the prospect of such a power and wildly superstitious so upon learning about the potential of crystals I was compelled to make a work that would provide an engaging conversation with your everyday crystal fanatic.”
About the artist:
Billy Fraser’s practice combines continued experimentation with material and exploration of medium with his deep-rooted fascination for expanded linear narratives. Existing within a timeline of subjective experience, Fraser’s artworks seek to speculate on the sublime and investigate the majestic epoch-making events of the natural, industrial, technological and nuclear eras. By embracing the uncanny, solemnity and absurdity meet in works that mine both the pop-cultural and socio-historical context of human achievements, as well as Fraser’s own memories of wonder and awe. Primed fireworks, prize goldfish and space exploration are at once celebrated, subverted and undermined, culminating in artworks that both tantalize the viewer visually and rewards them upon further contemplation.
