ART CITIES:N.York-Nástio Mosquito

Combining a range of disparate tropes, such as post-internet, performance, protest and masquerade Nástio Mosquito questions identity, political power and the concept of home. In videos such as “Fuck Africa” (2015) and “Demo de Cracia” (2013), he questions the strain on identity in countries like Angola via a performance of a man having a mental breakdown at having to prove himself ‘authentic’ in a music video.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: MoMA Archive

“Respectable Thief”, the Nástio Mosquito’s first solo exhibition at a U.S. Museum is on presentation at The Museum of Modern Art. His new work comprises three elements: a live performance in the Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters on 23/9/16, a single-channel video installation on view on the Museum’s third floor and interventions into the digital display monitors in the Museum lobbies, the audio tour for kids, and the Museum’s social media outlets. In the performance the artist celebrates the potential power of anger. In a barrage of spoken word, he explores the seemingly unlimited possibilities of language. Through compelling visual delights the performer also asks for your opinion. Through a multidisciplinary practice that bridges performance, music, video, installation, sound, and poetry, Mosquito tackles formidable subjects, from identity to faith to the complicated history of colonialism in Angola his native country. In the exhibition, Mosquito investigates the act and effects of appropriation, the ways in which both individuals and cultures “Take possession of what is useful”, as he puts it, to construct identity, maintain relationships, and gain power. Mosquito probes this topic through a mix of song, spoken word, and videos of colliding images and text that together overwhelm the senses, reflecting the urgency of his message.

Info: Organizer: Cara Manes, The Moseum of Modern Art, 11 West 53 Street, New York, Duration: 23/9-30/10/16, Days & Hours: Mon-Thu & Sat-Sun 10:30-17:30, Fri 10:30-20:00, www.moma.org