Creative Time’s 2006 summer exhibition, STRANGE POWERS, assembled artworks by more than twenty internationally acclaimed artists whose work explored the transformative power of art through a variety of magically charged manifestations. The notion that visual art has the power to conjure the invisible, to embody something or someone, to bring back an image from the past or envision a point in the future has been an element of image-making since cave painting. STRANGE POWERS investigated a renewed interest in this power, as it was perpetuated by the uneasiness of the moment—one marked by rapid change, startling violence, and a kind of cultural helplessness.
STRANGE POWERS highlighted works intended to have a paranormal effect on the world, including, among many others, two spell drawings by Brion Gysin; Douglas Gordon’s text beckoning visitors to “Do Something Evil;” a “soul stick” by Jim Lambie; aura portraits of artists by Anne Collier; and a crystal ball by Eva Rothschild. The exhibition additionally included a series of performances, public happenings and workshops.
Photograph by Justin Ouellette
Multiple Artists
Strange Powers
Manhattan
2006
