Ben Kinmont
Exhibitio Chimaerica
17 Apr - 11 May 2019
BEN KINMONT
Exhibitio Chimaerica
17 April – 11 May 2019
Air de Paris and Ben Kinmont are pleased to announce Exhibitio Chimaerica, a presentation of materials related to the antinomian Mary Everard and her family. Mary Everard (c.1637-1685) was the youngest of the True Levellers (or “Diggers” as their critics called them) about which anything is known. The True Levellers were a community of radicals who sought greater political and economic equality in mid-17th century England. They were also persecuted for their arguments against private property. Other members of Mary’s family included John Everard, the Familist and alchemist; William Everard, who attempted to assassinate Charles I; and Robert Everard, who participated in the Putney Debates.
Mary Everard was remarkable for having had visions since she was ten-years old, images which she transcribed into watercolors and designs for various globes. Later in life, after becoming a Quaker, she said that the Spirit had sent her those visions, a light for which she was but the instrument, and that the visions were a gift for her community. Interestingly, the True Levellers had difficulty accepting these art works and asked her to put the visions into verse for song (see the Thomason Collection, British Library, E.224.3).
The current exhibition includes several documents and objects coming from and about the Everard family, including an extremely rare broadside entitled Exhibitio Chimaerica; or, the True Leveller’s Cabinet Un-Earthed. Published in 1757, the work describes the discovery and contents of a pyxide containing Everard family material at Clare College, Cambridge.
Additional events have been organized in conjunction with the Air de Paris exhibition. On April 12th, at the Fondation Ricard, historian Brooke Palmieri will give a talk entitled “Printing, Pestilence, and Survival,” a look at radical political thought and archiving in 17th-century England. Palmieri’s talk will be followed by a conversation with Ben Kinmont and is presented within the larger context of Kinmont’s participation in the Paris Book Fair at the Grand Palais, April 11-14.
Ben Kinmont was born in 1963 in Vermont. He lives and works in Sebastopol, USA. Since the 90’s his sculptures and actions attempt to establish a direct, personal relationship between the artist and the viewer, using the work as a mediator. Besides, the artist earns his living with an antiquarian bookselling business about food, wine and domestic economy, considering this activity as a sculpture “the artwork is not the business itself, but the contribution to our cost of living.” Kinmont’s practice also includes conducting research and publishing work about other artists. His work has been exhibited in institutions in France and abroad. His work has been acquired by French National Library, and leading institutions such as MoMA in New York.
Antinomian:
Opposed to the law or the laws. In the Protestant Church of the 16th century, a doctrine which taught that the works of the divine law are not necessary for salvation: «There is sufficient moral goodness in man to seize the good without the fear of the law and Hell, salvation is not constrained by the compliance with the Ten Commandments".
True Levellers / Diggers:
They were a group of Radical Protestants founded in 1649 by Gerrard Winstanley joined by William Everard. It gathered mainly poor laborers and agricultural workers, former soldiers and unemployed workers. The True Levellers refused the enclosure (private appropriation of the communal meadows) and started to cultivate common land. In one of his pamphlets dedicated to the «despised of the earth» Winstanley writes «when humanity began to buy and sell, it lost its innocence, and men began to oppose one another and to defraud their natural right «(1652). They are considered the precursors of modern anarchism, influencing the Quakers in the 17th century and the Shakers in the 18th century. (for example, a counter-cultural collective based in San Francisco between 1966 and 1968 adopted the name of Diggers).
Familists:
Although the term “Familist” was applied to dissident groups dating back to 16th century Europe, and believed in the existence of a time before Adam and Eve where everything was governed by the law of nature and not the law of God. By the 17th century, English familists, also known as the “Family of Love,” were largely absorbed by the Quakers.
Quakers:
This group was founded in England in the seventeenth century, travelled widely, and settled in both English Colonies in the Caribbean and in what would become United States of America. Quakers have since started communities in Latin America and Africa. For the Quakers, religious belief belongs to the personal sphere and everyone is free of their convictions. The concept of «inner light» is however shared by most of them, and honored as a spiritual authority—for some it is the believed to be the presence of God in every human.
Generally speaking, Quakers lived in community and made decisions collectively and calling on members to seek and listen to the divine in oneself, rather than look to a priest or to the bible. This lead to discussion of equality among all humans—male and female alike—and a condemnation of social hierarchy, and for these ideas Quakers were considered highly dangerous in the 17th century.
Exhibitio Chimaerica
17 April – 11 May 2019
Air de Paris and Ben Kinmont are pleased to announce Exhibitio Chimaerica, a presentation of materials related to the antinomian Mary Everard and her family. Mary Everard (c.1637-1685) was the youngest of the True Levellers (or “Diggers” as their critics called them) about which anything is known. The True Levellers were a community of radicals who sought greater political and economic equality in mid-17th century England. They were also persecuted for their arguments against private property. Other members of Mary’s family included John Everard, the Familist and alchemist; William Everard, who attempted to assassinate Charles I; and Robert Everard, who participated in the Putney Debates.
Mary Everard was remarkable for having had visions since she was ten-years old, images which she transcribed into watercolors and designs for various globes. Later in life, after becoming a Quaker, she said that the Spirit had sent her those visions, a light for which she was but the instrument, and that the visions were a gift for her community. Interestingly, the True Levellers had difficulty accepting these art works and asked her to put the visions into verse for song (see the Thomason Collection, British Library, E.224.3).
The current exhibition includes several documents and objects coming from and about the Everard family, including an extremely rare broadside entitled Exhibitio Chimaerica; or, the True Leveller’s Cabinet Un-Earthed. Published in 1757, the work describes the discovery and contents of a pyxide containing Everard family material at Clare College, Cambridge.
Additional events have been organized in conjunction with the Air de Paris exhibition. On April 12th, at the Fondation Ricard, historian Brooke Palmieri will give a talk entitled “Printing, Pestilence, and Survival,” a look at radical political thought and archiving in 17th-century England. Palmieri’s talk will be followed by a conversation with Ben Kinmont and is presented within the larger context of Kinmont’s participation in the Paris Book Fair at the Grand Palais, April 11-14.
Ben Kinmont was born in 1963 in Vermont. He lives and works in Sebastopol, USA. Since the 90’s his sculptures and actions attempt to establish a direct, personal relationship between the artist and the viewer, using the work as a mediator. Besides, the artist earns his living with an antiquarian bookselling business about food, wine and domestic economy, considering this activity as a sculpture “the artwork is not the business itself, but the contribution to our cost of living.” Kinmont’s practice also includes conducting research and publishing work about other artists. His work has been exhibited in institutions in France and abroad. His work has been acquired by French National Library, and leading institutions such as MoMA in New York.
Antinomian:
Opposed to the law or the laws. In the Protestant Church of the 16th century, a doctrine which taught that the works of the divine law are not necessary for salvation: «There is sufficient moral goodness in man to seize the good without the fear of the law and Hell, salvation is not constrained by the compliance with the Ten Commandments".
True Levellers / Diggers:
They were a group of Radical Protestants founded in 1649 by Gerrard Winstanley joined by William Everard. It gathered mainly poor laborers and agricultural workers, former soldiers and unemployed workers. The True Levellers refused the enclosure (private appropriation of the communal meadows) and started to cultivate common land. In one of his pamphlets dedicated to the «despised of the earth» Winstanley writes «when humanity began to buy and sell, it lost its innocence, and men began to oppose one another and to defraud their natural right «(1652). They are considered the precursors of modern anarchism, influencing the Quakers in the 17th century and the Shakers in the 18th century. (for example, a counter-cultural collective based in San Francisco between 1966 and 1968 adopted the name of Diggers).
Familists:
Although the term “Familist” was applied to dissident groups dating back to 16th century Europe, and believed in the existence of a time before Adam and Eve where everything was governed by the law of nature and not the law of God. By the 17th century, English familists, also known as the “Family of Love,” were largely absorbed by the Quakers.
Quakers:
This group was founded in England in the seventeenth century, travelled widely, and settled in both English Colonies in the Caribbean and in what would become United States of America. Quakers have since started communities in Latin America and Africa. For the Quakers, religious belief belongs to the personal sphere and everyone is free of their convictions. The concept of «inner light» is however shared by most of them, and honored as a spiritual authority—for some it is the believed to be the presence of God in every human.
Generally speaking, Quakers lived in community and made decisions collectively and calling on members to seek and listen to the divine in oneself, rather than look to a priest or to the bible. This lead to discussion of equality among all humans—male and female alike—and a condemnation of social hierarchy, and for these ideas Quakers were considered highly dangerous in the 17th century.