Henry Art Gallery
November 23, 2019 – April 26, 2020*
This group exhibition engages artists whose work addresses narratives, communities, and histories that are typically hidden or invisible in our public space (both conceptually and literally defined). The presenting artists approach the exhibition’s theme from a range of directions, varying across all media as well as aesthetic and conceptual contexts. Works encompass deliberately activist endeavors and direct documentation; the unpacking of individual histories excluded due to race, ethnicity, or class; explorations of coded language for protection, secrecy, or both; the illumination of invisible or covert systems of labor, exploitation, and capitalist control; and translation through surreal, oblique, or fantastical frameworks.
The exhibition expands into the entire museum, including interstitial/transitional spaces, and activates external sites through programs, performances, and community partnerships. Site becomes a material through which what we have heretofore considered the complete, authoritative story is expanded and retold.
Participating artists: Sadie Barnette (U.S., born 1984), Sanford Biggers (U.S., born 1970), Andrea Bowers (U.S., born 1965), Tom Burr (U.S., born 1963), Fiona Connor (New Zealand, born 1981), william cordova (Peru, born 1971), Beatriz Cortez (El Salvador, born 1970), Hayv Kahraman (Iraq, born 1981), Nicole Miller (U.S., born 1982), Alison O’Daniel (U.S., born 1979), Ebony G. Patterson (Jamaica, born 1981), Mika Rottenberg (Argentina, born 1976), A.L. Steiner (U.S., born 1967), Oscar Tuazon (U.S., born 1975)
*The lower level galleries open on November 2, 2019 and will remain open until June 7, 2020. On view within those galleries are works by Andrea Bowers, william cordova, Beatriz Cortez, Ebony G. Patterson, and Oscar Tuazon.
CREDITS
In Plain Sight is organized by Shamim M. Momin, Senior Curator. Lead support is provided by the True Family. This exhibition is also made possible through the generous support of Virginia and Bagley Wright, 4Culture, Phillips, the Washington State Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by the Consulate General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest. Media sponsorship is provided by The Stranger.
