SPACE Gallery
On view through June 29
Various times
A new art exhibition at SPACE is looking at the many ways contemporary artists address the psychological ramifications of the body, materials and labor in their work. On view through June 29, Psychic Panic opens with a free reception on May 16th at the Cultural District venue.
Organized by guest curator Olivia Ciummo, the group exhibition features more than 25 recently created artworks by nine artists working in a range of media. Featured artists, who hail from Pittsburgh and across the US, are: Erin Leland, Derya Hanife Altan, Selima Dawson, Kevin Jerome Everson, Elina Malkin, Susannah Mira, Tara Merenda Nelson, Ross Nugent and Olivia Ciummo.
The show’s compelling overarching theme reflects the creative practice of artists who are conceptually and/or formally exploring ideas about the body, materials and labor, while also showcasing a range of materials and techniques, including photography, film, video, painting, sculpture and mixed media. Ciummo’s concept for the exhibition came from an idea that labor, the body and materials can all have emotional and vague connections.
Ciummo says that artworks included in Psychic Panic reveal a push and pull in the way bodies, materials and labor present questions about contemporary society. Some of the works in the show address the notion that being a practitioner of art is also a form of labor, and also that forms of labor can contort and manipulate bodies, while others convey pictured and spoken domestic circumstances as locations for escape. Born in Pittsburgh, Ciummo is a filmmaker, artist, curator and educator currently based in Brooklyn.