The Immigrant Artist Biennial 2023: Contact Zone

Linnéa Gad
Shoals, Two Sculptures in Nolan Park

Curated by Bianca Abdi-Boragi, Katherine Adams, and Anna Mikaela Ekstrand

Presented in partnership with Billion Oyster Project 

September 9-November 19, 2023
Located in Nolan Park on Governors Island the sculptures are viewable to the public during the island’s opening hours. 

Field Work Performative Lecture, Linnéa Gad: “Oysters as Eyes,” October 1st, 2023, 1-3 PM at Billion Oyster Project Building #16, Governors Island. 

*This project was supported, in part, by a Foundation for Contemporary Art Emergency Grant. The fieldwork event is supported by the Consulate General of Sweden New York.“

Get to Governors Island by taking the ferry from Battery Maritime Building at 10 South Street or another ferry terminal,

For the past three years, Swedish artist Linnéa Gad has been engaged in interdisciplinary research around the lifecycle of lime. Fascinated by the material’s transformative journey from protective shells of marine organisms to the creation of limestone, she has explored both recent oyster rehabilitation in the Hudson estuary and million-year-old formations of fossiliferous limestone in Scandinavia.

Marking Gad’s first public artwork, the two large-scale sculptures Shoals I-II installed in Nolan Park on Governors Island and presented in partnership with Billion Oyster Project invite visitors to experience wild structures that could provide a good habitat for young oyster spats just steps away from where they are currently being restored, on the shoreline of Governors Island, to serve as part of an ecosystem that protects and nourishes the coastline.

As a creative response to how mollusks form their shells through the process of marine biogenic calcification, Shoal I presents a leviathan-like metal framework adorned with welding splatter, akin to barnacles that calcify on the belly of a ship. Its structure is cocooned in lime mortar mixed with crushed oyster shells and painted as a bueno fresco with lapis lazuli, the ultramarine pigment formed through the contact metamorphism of dolomitic limestone. Shoal II stands as a spindly structure, its lime mortar surface adorned with a mosaic of oyster eyes. Rooted in the ideas of new materialism, these sculptures exemplify growth and accumulation—mirroring various facets of lime’s malleable nature, its inherent ability to merge with different versions of itself—capturing the dynamic essence of lime in its myriad forms.

Shoals present a tactile response to the climate crisis. Lime is often viewed simply as a means to an end: cement production, however, lime is not only an essential material in contemporary infrastructure, it also stabilizes pH levels in the ocean and locks CO2 into the ocean floor. In 2024, as part of an ongoing partnership with Billion Oyster Project, Gad will create sculptures that extend from the organisation’s underwater metal gabion frameworks that are used to rehabilitate oyster growth. 

“I actively strive to integrate art into Billion Oyster Project initiatives,” said Agata Poniatowski, who leads Billion Oyster Project’s Public Outreach Manager and the organization’s partnership with The Immigrant Artist Biennial. “Recognizing the significance of STEAM education – Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math – this collaboration represents a powerful stride towards nurturing more art in the learning experiences for our youth."

On October 1st, 1-3PM, as part of TIAB’s Field Work programming, Gad will host a multimedia performative lecture, Oysters as Eyes, at Billion Oyster Project’s exhibit house #16 on Governors Island. The performance further visualizes Gad’s exploration of lime across various dimensions—geology, anthropology, ecology, art history, and personal narratives—and is accompanied by sound composed and performed by Will Epstein. 

Shoals, Two Public Sculptures on Governors Island is part of The Immigrant Artist Biennial 2023: Contact Zone held across venues in New York and New Jersey from September 2023 to January 2024. Find the full program here. 

ARTIST BIO

Linnéa Gad, born in 1990, is a visual artist from Stockholm, Sweden. Her sculptures, prints, paintings and installations are a response to our climate catastrophe, engaging with time-based ecological processes that govern our ecosystems. She currently 'collaborates' with limestone, oysters, cardboard, bark, and other shell materials, initiating unexpected dialogues that evoke empathy for the vibrant 'lives' of these materials. Reflecting the ethos of island culture instilled by her upbringing in the Stockholm archipelago, her artistic process embraces a deliberate sense of care and frugality. Techniques like mending and recycling are inherent to her ethos, and this resourceful approach permeates her reflections on the afterlife of her works—how they might transform, evolve, return to the life cycles of their materials, and ultimately dissolve.

Gad’s solo shows include Erratics at Spencer Brownstone in New York (2019), Luster Pit at RØM in Copenhagen (2018), and Mound Remover at New Release Gallery in New York (2018). The artist has recently participated in group shows at The Jewish Museum in New York (2022), The Lenfest Center for the Arts in New York (2021) and SixtyEight Art Institute in Copenhagen (2021). She is the recipient of grants from The Swedish Arts Grants Committee and was shortlisted for the Frankenthaler Climate Art Awards in 2022. Gad was a part-time lecturer at Parsons The New School for Design in 2022 and is an adjunct professor at Columbia University School of The Arts. The artist’s first publication "Kalk" is to be released by Danish RSS Press. 

HOST PARTNER

Billion Oyster Project, a New York City-based nonprofit organization with the goal of engaging one million people in the effort to restore one billion oysters to New York Harbor by 2035. Because oysters are filter feeders, they serve as a natural water filter, with a number of beneficial effects for the ecosystem.

ORGANIZER

The Immigrant Artist Biennial presents immigrant artists through various formats, facilitating a platform of support for projects by often overlooked and silenced voices. Founded in 2020 by its artistic director Ukrainian-born, NYC-based artist Katya Grokhovsky TIAB is fiscally sponsored by New York Foundation for the Arts and funded through its host partners, grants, sponsorships, donations, and its Patron Circle.

For press inquiries please contact annamikaela.ekstrand@gmail.com or +1 720 254 2997