Opening Reception for "Don't mind if I do" at UIC Gallery 400

Finnegan Shannon is an artist whose mischievous works challenge traditional museum practices and etiquette. For Don’t mind if I do, Shannon brings alive their longtime fantasy for an exhibition that meets their access needs. “I’m disabled,” they say, “and I need to sit. I’ve been dreaming about an exhibition where instead of having to move from artwork to artwork, I could sit somewhere comfortable and have the artwork come to me.”

Don’t mind if I do is a collaborative experiment demonstrating how temporary changes in power structures create pathways of access for visitors, artists, and staff. Anchored by a conveyor belt that brings artworks to visitors who are invited to sit around comfortable furniture and engage with the objects, the exhibition features artworks by several artists who have influenced Shannon’s practice. The paraded objects, including plastic pill bottles, tissue box covers, and gender-affirming packers, signify illness, systems of support, and play within everyday life. 

Embraced for its efficiency and mechanized transport of goods, the conveyor belt is reappropriated as a vehicle for cultivating a more relaxed museum-going experience. It welcomes informality, messiness, and unsettling the hierarchy of objects. Accompanying the exhibition are three solo exhibitions by artists agustine zegers, Sandie Yi, and Finnegan Shannon.

Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo, Pelenakeke Brown, Sky Cubacub, Emilie L. Gossiaux, Felicia Griffin, Joselia Rebekah Hughes, Jeff Kasper, Finnegan Shannon, agustine zegers

Support for Don’t mind if I do is provided by the Illinois Arts Council and the School of Art & Art History, the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts, and the University of Illinois Chicago. 

Don’t mind if i do originated at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (July 7, 2023-January 7, 2024) with generous support provided by the Ford Foundation. Additional touring venues include: University Library at California State University, Sacramento (September 10-November 27, 2024) and the Smith College Museum of Art (January 30-June 28, 2026).