Inside Art with Michael Rose — Variance Exhibition Probes Disability in Art

Inside Art with Michael Rose — Variance Exhibition Probes Disability in Art

 

The work of museums is not merely in preserving historical artworks, but also in forging new dialogues around art. In an exhibition on view at RISD Museum through October 9, 2022, issues of disability and illness are explored in ways that are simultaneously sensitive and engaging. “Variance: Making, Unmaking, and Remaking Disability” is a timely show that aids viewers in reshaping their readings of disability in art.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

 

Variance was assembled by the museum’s Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings, Conor Moynihan and examines disability in art through the social model of disability. The exhibition’s descriptive text explains this method by saying, “In this framing, disability is not centered on defect and cure. Rather, disability is a social phenomenon in which people with some forms of difference experience oppression, stigmatization, or failure to be accommodated within the larger cultural sphere, while others are given priority.”

 

 

At one entry to the show, visitors will find artwork by a local legend. An evocative scene from Tom Sgouros’ “Remembered Landscapes” series shows a plume of white clouds over a gently rolling field. Sgouros was a longtime RISD illustration professor, who, when faced with the onset of macular degeneration, shifted his artistic style from descriptive to something more abstract, but nonetheless beautiful.

 

Nearby, an image of disabled dancer and choreographer Alice Sheppard alters traditional expectations of portraiture. While the underlying elements of the portrait were executed by artist Riva Lehrer, Sheppard also engaged in the making of the piece, both by acting as subject and by adding her own contributory drawings. It is technically stunning and conceptually stimulating.

 

 

The show features a number of works that are either rarely on view or were acquired for the collection for the purposes of this exhibition. One such piece is an untitled work by Dominic Quagliozzi, which makes use of the familiar tissue paper that lines doctors’ examination tables. Floated with great care behind glass, the fragile paper support features a dark form criss-crossed with stitching. Rich and multi-layered, the work probes the firsthand experience of its maker, who has experienced many medical settings in the course of treating his cystic fibrosis.

 

When asked how it feels to be able to reshape what work is being seen by audiences at the museum, Moynihan says, “It feels incredibly empowering, and I am so appreciative of all my colleagues and collaborators at the RISD Museum who trusted me when I proposed these acquisitions and made these exhibition decisions. The RISD Museum has been doing so much work to make our galleries more inclusive, equitable, and diverse and I am thankful that my work on Variance is one part of those larger goals.”

 

 

Speaking of what having work in the show means to him, Quagliozzi states, “It's an honor to be in a show that took such care showing the historical context of disability and chronic illness through drawing, photography and prints. Conor was so thoughtful laying out common threads shared in these works- it was important to me to see visibility and representation and as artists, our own agency, upon the walls of a museum because it's not something I saw much of when I was younger.”

 

Variance is an exhibition that brings new works and ideas to audiences, within the context of a theme that is deeply resonant. It is also meticulously crafted. Even the font used on the labels was selected for its readability among visitors experiencing dyslexia. Works on view span a broad range of periods, dating between 1735 and 2021. Some featured artworks were made by people with firsthand experience of illness or disability, while others were created by artists examining the treatment of individuals.

 

 

In a series of three lithographs created in 1965 by printmaker Michael Mazur, viewers will find depictions of the former state asylum in Cranston. The images use distinctive mark-making to capture the emotional realities of institutionalization from the eyes of a volunteer.

 

When asked what he hopes museumgoers take away from the exhibition, Moynihan says, “For visitors who identify as having a disability, I hope they can see themselves--or aspects of themselves--reflected in Variance, whether that is directly in the works on view or in the design and thesis of the exhibition. For the wider viewership, I hope they start to notice that disability is around them all the time and that disability and chronic illness have rich histories and cultures.”

 

“Variance: Making, Unmaking, and Remaking Disability” is on view at the RISD Museum through October 9, 2022. The museum is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays as well as Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am - 5 pm each day and Thursdays and Fridays from 12 pm - 7 pm. Admission is free after 5 pm on Thursdays and Fridays and all day on Sundays. For more information visit www.risdmuseum.org.