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Undercurrents
Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven
Curated by Kristina Newman Scott
March 6 - April 24, 2022
“The challenges of the last two years living with the pall of a global pandemic and the heaviness of racial fury in this nation, has forced us to reimagine connectivity, community, and intimacy. While reviewing the over 400 works submitted for the Ely Centers Open Call, I couldn’t help but feel a profound connection to work that seemed to be exploring this moment, even if some of them were created pre-pandemic. Maybe I was projecting my own emotional state, but after selecting the 46 pieces for the exhibition and then looking at them collectively, I knew that they belonged together. These works needed to share space with each other, to have proximity to each other’s visual stories, to be in community.
There may never be a return to what we have collectively assumed as “normal”. These past years have shown us that there is always something hiding under the surface. This is where we find thoughts that convey joy, that consume trust and concede suffering. I’m hoping that the work in this exhibit might remind us of the beauty, pain, loneliness, and joy that we have been experiencing. We have all been carrying active feelings under the surface. These are our undercurrents. We are alive, and it is wonderful.” Kristina Newman Scott