Hermerica, Kleinert/James Center for the Arts
I am pleased to share my participation in the group exhibition, Hermerica, curated by Carrie Fedder with special thanks to Portia Munson. My work, Bodies of Plenty will be shown in this multidisciplinary exhibition that presents the work of 27 artists, including Kiki Smith, Katrina Majkut, Rose Deler, Kate Hamilton, Ruby Palmer, Liza Todd Tivey, Tricia Wright, Melora Kuhn, and Lola Jiblazee, among others.
HERMERICA
March 13 - April 25, 2021
Kleinert/James Center for the Arts, Woodstock, NY
Curated by Carrie Feder with special thanks to Portia Munson.
A multidisciplinary exhibition on the American woman’s journey in history, popular culture, and the artist’s imagination. An investigative mix of art and artifact.
Featuring Yura Adams, Rose Deler, Jenny Feder, Jeanette Fintz, Kate Hamilton, Valerie Hammond, Daesha Devón Harris, Lola Jiblazee, Cynthia Karasek, Beth Katleman, Melora Kuhn, Katrina Majkut, Tanya Marcuse, Susan Mastrangelo, Claudia McNulty, Portia Munson, Ruby Palmer, Debra Priestly, Christy Rupp, Kathy Ruttenberg, Kiki Smith, Corinne Spencer, Laurie Steelink, Liza Todd Tivey, Katherine Umsted, Susan Wides, Tricia Wright
Hermerica is an exhibition about women prevailing. Originally scheduled in 2020, the year of the Centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote in the United States, the exhibition showcases art by women about women that reflects upon their sense of self. Exploring the enduring legacy of the struggle of the women’s suffrage movement, Hermerica starts by examining the origins of the movement in the 1840s. The societal turmoil of that period included such socially transformative issues as women’s rights, abolitionism, temperance, religious revivalism, dress, and education reforms.
Rather than outlining a linear history of the woman’s movement, the show subjectively focuses on the journey women have taken to find their voice while reflecting on the restrictions upon that voice in the past. Spanning the 19th to the 21st centuries, selected historical text, quotes, images, and objects are placed in combination with contemporary artwork that speak to women’s role in society and the road which led to acquiring the right to vote.
Examples of “conversations” between art and objects are antique quilts and sewing implements displayed with paintings that have been inspired by geometric patterns, or artwork that reflects upon slavery alongside historical abolitionist images. The movement’s start in the 19th century is only a jumping off point for the contemporary art that reflects upon women’s individual and collective journey.
The women artists in this exhibition, many of whom have ties to the Hudson Valley, demonstrate with their art that the achievements of the suffrage movement in the 19th and early 20th centuries was just the beginning of the continuing struggle of women to establish self determination and make their voices heard.
Funded in part with an Action grant from Humanities New York.