We Gotta Get Out of This Place — Transportive Art

Spring 2022 Eva Fierst Student Curatorial Exhibition
March 24 – May 1, 2022
Sep 30 – Dec 11, 2022
Curated by graduate students Tirzah Frank, 2022 MA, History/Public History; and Cecily Hughes, 2022 MA, History of Art and Architecture
Opening Reception (in-person) with Special Tribute to Eva Fierst / March 24, Thursday, 4:30–6:30 p.m.
Artist Talk with Sue de Beer (virtual) / April 20, Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. / on Zoom Register

During the fourteen months that encompassed the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic here in the U.S., the concept of escape took on a poignant salience, as lockdowns, fear of illness, and social responsibility kept many of us cloistered inside our homes. When there was nowhere to go, we sought to be transported — through stories in books and television encompassing distant histories or dystopian futures; via digital images and videos of cute animals or faraway places; and with meditative and spiritual practice that connected us to our inner selves, the natural world, and our global community. Even taking a darker turn — following violence and political strife or dabbling in the supernatural, the spectral, and the spooky — became a means of getting out of our physical reality. This show is a celebration of art objects that are imbued with such transportive potential. They have the ability to move us across time and space, taking us out of ourselves and into another realm. Featuring work from Susan de Beer, Anne Beresford, Chakaia Booker, Marc Chagall, Caitlin Cherry, Oriole Farb-Feshbach, Sam Gilliam, Edward Johnson, Kara Walker, Gary Winogrand, and many others, We Gotta Get Out of This Place alights on themes of home, fantasy, escapism, nature, the uncanny, and the ways that history haunts everyday experience.