At the entrance to Ane Graff’s exhibition “Molecular Dramas,” one encounters a series of delicate silks, streaked and splashed with red, black, pink, and purple. Entitled BBB (The Blood Brain Barrier) II, III and IV, all 2022, the hanging textiles evoke images of bandages, hinting at the oozing of ailments, the unraveling narrative of an illness. The works bring to mind corporeal canvases from the height of the AIDS epidemic by artists such as Chysanne Stathacos and Carolee Schneemann, but in Graff’s work, it’s the molecules that do the talking. Her artistic practice has long centered on the interdependent and historically entangled relationship of bodies and chemicals. In this exhibition, she pays homage to feminist-materialist theories that perceive the body as porous and constantly evolving; the works seem fragile and allude to forms of chemical imbalance that transcend class.
In the main space, three wide goblets are carefully positioned on seventeenth-century tables cast in white plaster. Protected by bell jars, these vessels contain diaphanous layers of chemical concoctions that blossom into intricate, potentially toxic petri dishes. The pieces, titled The Goblets (Mixed Dementia), The Goblets (Panic Disorder), and The Goblets (Clinical Depression), all 2022, explore the interconnected narratives of the materials surrounding us and our bodies. For instance, The Goblets (Depression) incorporates a powdered newspaper announcing the 2008 financial collapse, alongside fruit chews, tunnel dust, and acne medication. Supplementing each sculpture is an oil-stick-and-acrylic painting that shares its title (all 2023). On these surfaces, printed text delves into the symptoms of the titular disorders, advocating for a more holistic approach to healing.
