Transcendence

March 1 – March 31, 2019

Juror’s Statement
The artists featured in “Transcendence” provide a starting point for individual and collective action through their radical uses of presence and absence. Blurring the boundaries of genres, mediums, and visualities, the works presented all challenge the traditional binaries and patriarchal notions of gender associated with Western systems of thought, surveillance, and power. Even though visibility does not always equate to empowerment, these works certainly provide visceral and theoretical insight into our ongoing understanding of gender.

On viewing “Transcendence,” I hope you not only take time to examine what shifts or transformations you have undergone in your own thinking and behavior around gender, but also reevaluate how you actively support the LGBTQIA+ community on a daily basis. The cathartic, utopian visions of gender imagined by the artists are not accessible unless we collectively work towards justice.

Special thanks to IA&A at Hillyer for being an active ally in the ongoing discourse around gender, race, class, power, and agency.

–Antonius-Tín Bui

Selected Artists:
Vân Anh (NY)
Ash Cheshire (MD)
Marion Colomer (DC)
J. Casey Doyle (ID)
Sidney Mullis (PA)
John Thomas Paradiso (MD)
Qigemu (Jasmine Lin + April Lin) (CT)
Maritza Ranero (MA)
Ashleigh Rose Robb (CA)
Hillary Rochon (DC)
Dusty Rose (MD)
Alex Dolores Salerno (NY)
K. Sarrantonio (NY)
Erin Smego (IL)
Sarah Stefana Smith (DC)
Diana Walsh (MA)
Sandra Chen Weinstein (CA)
Your Rouge Photography (VA)

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About the Juror:  Antonius-Tín Bui (b. 1992) is a queer, gender-nonbinary, Vietnamese-American artist who recently graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Since graduating from MICA, Bui has been awarded fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center, Kala Art Institute, Tulsa Artists Fellowship, Halcyon Arts Lab, and Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. They are currently interested in complicating Vietnamese history and queerness through performance, textiles, and photography.

Special thanks to A. Morgan McKendry, who developed the curatorial concept for Transcendence as part of an internship with IA&A at Hillyer this past Fall 2018.