Space Is The Place

A traveling exhibition of contemporary art that explores the infinite potential of space exploration

Space Is the Place focuses on contemporary art that looks to space exploration —its infinite potential and its historical successes and failures as seen in the works of an international group of artists during the last fifteen years. This collection of contemporary art — paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations, and sound, and video — highlights the importance of imagination and dreaming in the quest for space travel, that powerful catalyst for artists. Artists in the exhibition: Laurie Anderson, Colette Gaiter, Lia Halloran, Ronald Jones, Nina Katchadourian, Oleg Kulik, Julian LaVerdiere, Aleksandra Mir, MIR Project, Damian Ortega, Marko Pelijhan in collaboration with PACT Systems, Steve Roden, Jason Rogenes, Adam Ross, Katy Schimert, Jane and Louise Wilson.

The title — Space Is the Place — derives from a 1974 movie about an influential jazz-fusion band, whose leader, Sun Ra, spoke of making music sublime enough to elevate humanity beyond Earth, transcending reality. Much like the cosmic themes of Sun Ra, the exhibition reaches out to realms beyond our planet.

While the theme of outer space unites all the work, the subject lends itself to an exploration of the technological, environmental, and sociopolitical forces affecting life on earth. Some artists reflect back to the giddy days of the space race, recalling the Russian space sites as relics or ruins, while others imbue the first American moon walk with a sense of nostalgia and desire for a bygone era. Some examples: Polish-born artist Aleksandra Mir’s video, First Woman on the Moon (1999), performed on a beach in the Netherlands thirty years after the first moon walk, uses the fantastical context of space exploration to comment on the continuing problem of gender inequality; The new work of Laurie Anderson, NASA’s first artist-in-residence, emphasizes imagination. “When you hang out at NASA,” Anderson observes, “you realize that a lot of research has to do with beauty, starting with Einstein, who rejected certain theories because they violated his aesthetic sense.”

Organized by iCI (Independent Curators International), New York, the exhibition is curated by Alex Baker, curator of contemporary art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, and Toby Kamps, senior curator at the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati.

An illustrated catalog, co-published by iCI and the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, accompanies the exhibition.

The exhibition Space Is the Place is organized and circulated by iCI (Independent Curators International), New York. The guest curators are Alex Baker and Toby Kamps. The exhibition, tour, and catalogue are made possible, in part, by a grant from the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, with additional support from the iCI Exhibition Partners.

Date : June 21 – September 7, 2008

Admission:
Adult - $5
Seniors and Children - $3
Members Free