Tiona Nekkia McClodden

THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE

Tiona Nekkia McClodden,THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, exhibition view, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel

Tiona Nekkia McClodden,THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, exhibition view, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel

Tiona Nekkia McClodden,THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, exhibition view, front: HEAD LOSS and APNEA, both 2023, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel

Tiona Nekkia McClodden,THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, exhibition view, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel

Tiona Nekkia McClodden,THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, exhibition view, central: A MERCY IV, 2023, left and right: THRASHER [I-XVI], 2023, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel

Tiona Nekkia McClodden, A MERCY III, 2023, installation view, in: Tiona Nekkia McClodden, THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel

Tiona Nekkia McClodden,THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, exhibition view, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel

Tiona Nekkia McClodden, THRASHER [I-XVI], 2023, detail, in: Tiona Nekkia McClodden, THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel

Tiona Nekkia McClodden,THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, exhibition view, left to right: NEVER LET ME GO / III. a visage; DOUBLE BIND, and DIRE / RETENUE, all 2023, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel

Tiona Nekkia McClodden,THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, exhibition view, front: DIRE / RETENUE, 2023, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel

Tiona Nekkia McClodden, NEVER LET ME GO / V. irrevocable, 2023, detail, in: Tiona Nekkia McClodden, THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel

Tiona Nekkia McClodden, NEVER LET ME GO / V. irrevocable, 2023, installation view, in: Tiona Nekkia McClodden, THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel

Tiona Nekkia McClodden, DOUBLE BIND, 2023, video, installation view, in: Tiona Nekkia McClodden, THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel

Exhibition poster for THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TOTHE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE by Tiona Nekkia McClodden, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023. Design: Latoya Haguinatha Breu

 Exhibition text (PDF)
 Press images (ZIP)

For her very first institutional solo exhibition in Europe, Tiona Nekkia McClodden (*1981) weaves together a body of all new work to continue her ongoing exploration of the intersections of control, mercy, threat, desire, and pleasure. Imagining the whole of her exhibition as a kind of theoretical choke valve, the US-American artist showcases sculpture based on readymade elements used in the cattle industry, paintings on leather, video, and performance that provoke a distinct sensorial encounter as much as an intellectual and emotional one.

Press clippings:
Bondage und Black Lives Matter: Die Kunsthalle Basel poliert den Widerspruch auf Hochglanz, bz Basel (05/2023)
Wirkungsfelder einer Schlafapnoe, BaZ (06/2023)
Gewaltvoll geschnürt Tiona Nekkia McClodden in der Kunsthalle Basel, gallerytalk (06/2023)
Unterworfene Körper, Badische Zeitung (06/2023)
In Her Kunsthalle Basel Exhibition, Tiona Nekkia McClodden Contemplates Breathing and Mercy, ARTnews (06/2023)
12 LGBTQ+ Artists Having Institutional Shows This Pride Month, ARTnews (06/2023)
Vom unsichtbaren Gesetz, atmen zu müssen, Radio X (06/2023)
Tiona Nekkia McClodden “THE POETICS OF BEAUTY WILL INEVITABLY RESORT TO THE MOST BASE PLEADINGS AND OTHER WILES IN ORDER TO SECURE ITS RELEASE” at Kunsthalle Basel, Mousse (07/2023)