Artist Angela Yang’s new installation, Catharsis, begins in hell. But don’t be discouraged: Visitors to this three-story, multi-sensory collaboration at 1310 Gallery in Fort Lauderdale will start at the bottom, on a ground-floor space with artwork and music marshaled to portray states of abject loss and despair. From there, figuratively and literally, there’s nowhere to go but up.
Funded by an Artist Support Grant from the Broward County Cultural Division, Yang’s exhibition will guide visitors through the grief she experienced at the loss of her mother. Catharsis also supplies comfort: Visitors on August 1 can access a free workshop (with limited space) encompassing a grief and trauma info session, a movement experience, and a group crafting session.
Catharsis features works by Yang and collaborators Cary Daly, Dana Minko, Dan Potvin, Liv Cook, and Hunter Grey. Bracketing the installation is a downstairs DJ set by Nat Smallish and an upstairs performance by Y.K. Hamilton, a.k.a. rapper Jabrjaw.
As you enter the building to begin your night in hell (the first floor), you’re immersed in the spiraling stage, where depression sets in and feelings of victimhood and recklessness take over. Installations featuring prescription pill bottles and a soundtrack by Smallish set the scene.
The second floor, purgatory, is where the artworks collide and, like Dante, you decide where your soul belongs. You’ll find overtly religious themes here, as a nod to Yang’s mother. “She was very Catholic. Let’s put it that way. Puerto Rican, very Catholic,” Yang tells PureHoney.
Ascending to the third floor, visitors meet Jabrjaw. Yang explains why she sees this level as an exemplar of heaven: “[Rapping] is a celebration of self. A celebration of what you’ve been through, where you’ve come, where you are now, and embracing that.”
“It’s funny because I realized that there’s never really going to be a catharsis,” Yang says. “You don’t know whether you’ll ever actually get closure. No one can replace that person or that entity. You can’t just be like, ‘All right, closure and healing on demand!’” But she’s clearly done the work.
Catharsis by Angela Yang opens with a reception 6pm-9pm Saturday, July 18 at 1310 Gallery in Fort Lauderdale and continues through August 13. @angela_yang_art on Instagram ~ Kelli Bodle
