On view:
Aug. 23 - Sept. 23, 2016

Reception:
August 25, 2016 • 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Q & A Discussion:
Carmen Papalia and Whitney Mashburn
August 24, 2016 • 4 - 5:30 p.m.

Artist talk and participatory performance: Carmen Papalia with Christina Warzecha
August 25, 2016 • 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

The University of Louisville Hite Art Institute is proud to present an exhibition curated by Master’s candidate in the Critical and Curatorial Studies program, Whitney Mashburn. The exhibition shares findings from the Let’s Keep in Touch project with Vancouver­ based social practice artist Carmen Papalia. Papalia’s work, which tackles the topic of institutional access through participatory interventions, has been featured in venues such as The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, MoMA, and the Columbus Museum of Art.

Let’s Keep in Touch is an inherently political project which challenges the systematic oppression of visual primacy in art institutions.  Rich in conversation and collaboration, the project evolved out of dialogue between Papalia and Mashburn. Its essence is this: Mashburn chose sixteen artists whose sculptural and textile ­based works held an interesting tactile aesthetic.  Papalia has begun the process of contacting these artists and initiating discussion with each of them regarding tactile access to their work(s).

The resulting exhibition creates a non­visual, participatory space in which all visitors are invited to explore Papalia’s documented conversations and to touch sculptural installations by Christina Warzecha and Corey Patrick Dunlap. The foci here are three­fold: non­visual learning, critical tactile engagement, and the open dialogue of building community around a new accessibility. Through the exhibition, Papalia and Mashburn seek to engage all individuals interested in discussions of broadening their manner of experiencing art and discovering the unseen bodies of knowledge available through tactile exploration.

This exhibition serves as a first look at the current state of this living, active project which continues with long­term goals of stimulating collective discussion about multimodal experiencing of art and establishing precedents in tactile access and haptic criticism.  An exhibition highlight is a performance by Papalia prior to the opening reception in which he will lead attendees in a participatory workshop of non­visual learning.  All are welcome to attend.