Objects and Power, installation view with work by Samuel Levi Jones, Nyeema Morgan, and Michael Rakowitz | Photography by Joel Tsui '16, Salt '17, MFA '19
Dates
- On View: October 4 – December 13, 2024
- Reception: Friday, October 4 from 5:00 – 8:00 pm, ICA
About the Exhibition
Objects and Power is a group exhibition that examines the systems surrounding collections, investigating how history is told through the processes of acquiring and presenting art, artifacts, and texts. Objects and Power features ten artists whose work examines the roots of collecting and museums; instances of extraction, theft, and erasure; themes of Indigeneity, access, and ownership; and examples of artists and community groups telling stories and giving value to objects on their own terms.
Participating artists include:
- Morehshin Allahyari
- Maya Tihtiyas Attean (member of the Penobscot Nation)
- Samuel Levi Jones
- SaraNoa Mark
- Nyeema Morgan
- Gala Porras-Kim
- Michael Rakowitz
- Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos)
- Stephanie Syjuco
- William Villalongo
Objects and Power was developed to serve as a living laboratory, with themes woven throughout the curriculum at Maine College of Art & Design. The work featured in the exhibition opens up a series of conversations about the role and responsibilities of institutional collections. Objects and Power challenges audiences to question one’s role in the process of making and invites agency in navigating art world systems.
Generous support for the exhibition was provided through the Jeremy Moser and Laura Kittle Fund.
Events
- Visiting Artist Talk with Samuel Levi Jones
In partnership with MECA&D’s Academic Studies department
Monday, October 7, 2024, 12:00-1:00pm, Osher Hall, MECA&D Campus - “Objects & Indigeneity” student-led conversation with Casey Matȟó
Tuesday, October 15, 2024, 3:00-4:00pm, The ICA at MECA&D - Student responsive exhibition led by Assistant Professor Benjamin Spalding’s OBJECT OBJECT OBJECT class
October 21 – November 2, 2024, Bob Crewe and A&GA window galleries - Trans Objects and Representation” student-led conversation with Lyra Miller
Thursday, November 14, 2024, 3:00-4:00pm, The ICA at MECA&D - Decolonization and Institutions, panel discussion with Rose Logie, MECA&D Assistant Professor of Art History; Sayantan Mukhopadhyay, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Portland Museum of Art; moderated by Julio Rivera '24
This event will be rescheduled for a future date.
Additional programming to be announced.
Press
State of the Art: Objects and Power - October 27, 2024
Gallery
