The migration crisis is having another artistic echo.The latest is at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery in London. It has a new installation by Cameroonian, Paris-based artist Barthélémy Toguo, simply called “Migrant.”The crisis, especially in Europe at present, has caught the public and artistic imagination after lines of refugees in Greece, Tukey and France. Migrants have dehydrated on boats, crushed on trains, and starved in trucks. Some have fallen out of the undercarriages of airliners arriving in London.“Rêve Brise?” (“Broken Dream?”) at La Maison M, in the Paris suburb Saint Denis, has six artists paying homage to the migrants, just one of the shows opening.In Vienna, a dinner is being held at Magdas, an hotel and canteen staffed by refugees, as part of the Biennale events.In London the Ben Uri centenary show at Somerset House has migration as a major theme of course.The Tate Britain famously had its “Migrations” show back in 2012 and the Saatchi Gallery displayed refugee art the following year.Toguo, born in 1967, has long explored the theme of border control, His latest piece references his stamps made out of wood earlier used in the installation at the Okwui Enwezor-curated “All the World’s Futures” at the 56th Venice Biennale 2015.Toguo’s carved blocks give a reverse stamp – black becomes white – which also has an apt symbolism. In the earlier work, the huge stamps give black impressions with white words such as “Type of Visa” and “Immigration Officer.” Now things are reduced just to the single word “Migrant.”The work is for the Houldsworth gallery’s imaginative micro-project space called “The Box” which has previously housed works by Ai Weiwei and others. Ai has also been outspoken on the subject.As politicians debate action, amid worries about labor protection laws and human rights, we can expect a flurry of more artists to join in. Barthélémy Toguo “Migrant” runs from September 4 through October 3 2015. Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, 6 Heddon Street, London W1B 4BT. Information: http://www.houldsworth.co.uk/the-box
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