Show Title:  Another’s Table  

Curator:  Melissa Joseph

Concept:  When we exist within structures that are not built for us, we are forced to become parasites, surviving in host bodies. In Greek, parasite translates to “eating at another’s table.”  Non-dominant groups of all kinds experience this phenomenon daily, in ways that are both intentional and internalized.  The show that I’m proposing addresses this experience. The selected artists (and possibly a few more) all contemplate how to work within these larger systems in ways that are productive and sometimes subversive.  The  “parasitic” works will relate to the physical structure of the space and also to larger ideologies dominant in society and the arts.  It will hopefully include self taught artists along with those who are participating in the commercially tiered system.  

One misconception of parasitism that I hope to challenge through this exhibition is that parasites offer nothing of benefit to the host. There is much to be learned and understood about the center from its edges.  Systems are more complex than individuals.