April 18 – May 1, 2019
Curated by Bojana Coklyat (Gallatin MA ’19)
About the exhibition:
The title of the show, “Crip Imponderabilia” takes it’s meaning from the repurposed word “cripple” and the anthropological word “imponderabilia”, which refers to all the mundane, almost invisible everyday actions of a culture. Each work will reflect this idea, but each work will be created with their own experience as a disabled person as well as how the work can be experienced by disabled and non disabled visitors.
This exhibit will be an example for Gallatin and other NYU galleries as to what can be done to make the gallery as accessible as possible to disabled people but also how disability aesthetics/access can actually bring about innovation and a different way to disrupt the traditional art space. Treating the gallery experience as more of a process here we are exchanging ideas as well as a place where you could sit on the floor, move things around, touch, play games whenever is another way to break up how bodies usually operate in gallery spaces.
Curatorial Statement:
“Using the word “crip” denotes a more radical approach to disability than just looking to be included in space. In this show we want to disrupt the traditional gallery space and art experience. Each work will reflect this idea. Each artist in the show is disabled and the work created is multi-modal and uses access as a creative element. As a disabled curator, interdependence was central to the creation of the work, space and attitudes towards the show. In curating this space at Gallatin, I hope to introduce a new model for access for the galleries at NYU. One where we go beyond what we see and move towards different ways our bodies can experience art.
In this show, I was able to create a microcosm of what is happening in Disability Art communities. This is not just art that is made by disabled people, it is art that centers disability. In pieces that were 2D, we worked together to find ways to create additional entry points for those who would be experiencing the show with less or no priority on the visual. This allowed for many opportunities for innovation. Like using motion sensors triggered by motion in order to facilitate automatic verbal description. In “Crip Imponderabilia” and in many disabled communities, the space is what you need it to be. We invite you to play, feel, relax, engage or tell us what would have made the space more welcoming.”
— Bojana Coklyat, Curator
Artists:
Jake Anders (Gallatin BA ’22), Ezra Benus, Bojana Coklyat, Lindsay Eales, Danielle Peers, Donna Gary (Gallatin BA ’19), Mike Difeo, Shannon Finnegan, Jeff Kasper, Janice Kasper, Madison Zalopany
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