NADA Curated: Reset

“A Liberated Moor” depicts a plaster vase of a Sicilian Moorish head in a colorful turban, acquired by the artist from the Brooklyn Flea, a flea market in Brooklyn, New York.

From a new series of watercolors by Ina Archer, the artist portrays racially-charged collectibles that have been acquired from vintage stores to “liberate” them from new cycles of ownership that prolong the effects of their intolerant symbology. In addition to putting a stop to the circulation of objects lingering in our society that perpetuate racism, Archer attempts to “reset” the characters’ significance through an act of portraiture, while highlighting the intricacy of the path forward: “All the portraits are altered slightly so that whatever characteristics make them identifiable as racial stereotypes are softened… It’s not redeeming but it is hopefully suggesting their possible complexity.”