Covers

Al Freeman received a BFA in 2005 from Concordia University in Montréal, and her MFA in 2010 from Yale University. Al Freeman reproduces everyday items at an exaggerated scale, rendering them in puffy, tactile materials. But by presenting her polyester, cloth, and pleather works as partially deflated, she playfully imbues a beer can, a hammer, or a lava lamp with a message of subverted masculinity. Drained of their virility and enlarged to a ridiculous size, the objects are invested with a humor that satirizes the simulated coziness of runaway consumerism. In her Comparisons series, Al Freeman juxtaposes iconic artworks with images found from the deep waters of the internet. She was born in 1981 in Canada and wrks and lives in New York.

"Al Freeman is the funniest artist I know of — funny like Albert Brooks and Norm MacDonald combined. And like them, her presence in art – the jagged lines and image choices – are funny just by being there." Dan Nadel

This is one in a series of eight zines curated by Dan Nadel for Nieves in 2023/2024.