Off Paradise is delighted to announce Like a Nightingale with a Toothache, an exhibition featuring works by Jane Dickson, Ryan Gander, Robert Gober, J Grabowski, Robert Hawkins, Colter Jacobsen, Ross Knight, Matthieu Laurette, Lee Lozano, Alice Mackler, Gordon Matta-Clark, Marlon Mullen, Alessandro Paiano, Richard Prince, Claude Rutault, Maaike Schoorel, Mose Tolliver and B. Wurtz.
“The love for fashion spreads, and now the whole studio is thriving off of it,” exhibition curator Shantanice Swain explains.
“For me, fashion is about what you’re comfortable with. It can shift, and it can be anything — clothes, earrings, shoes, drawings. It’s a bold and courageous way of saying, ‘I am who I am today.’” Fashion has the power to affirm and transform: what we wear tells a story about who we are and who we might one day hope to become. Over the past year, artists were encouraged to experiment with materials and draw inspiration from personal histories, pop culture, and future fantasies. Presented here is a selection of works on paper that showcase vibrant and innovative adornments.
The University Art Gallery at Sonoma State University proudly presents Reflections: Portraits and Self-Portraits from NIAD Art Center, an exhibition curated by Executive Director Amanda Eicher, and Board Member Jay Youngdahl. Artists in their own right, Amanda and Jay are regular conversation partners with the studio artists at NIAD, finding an evocative and lasting dialogue with practices of self-representation and the question of representation itself.
Featured artists include individuals who are emerging and self-taught, are from traditionally underrepresented communities, and those with disabilities. All have paved their own way in the formation of their work, representing personal experiences and interests in individual styles developed outside the conventions of mainstream art education and culture.
This exhibition began in 2006 as a way for DC-area groups working with self-taught artists to exhibit together. Over the last 18 years, the exhibition’s success has seen it grow to feature artists from across the nation alongside our resident artists. With a selection of affordable work in a wide array of styles, the show continues to be an excellent introduction to outsider art for those looking to start their own collection.
Celebrate the creativity of the artists of Creative Growth, the first U.S. organization dedicated to supporting artists with developmental disabilities. Artists and staff from Creative Growth and their sister organizations NIAD and Creativity Explored will be on-site to help us celebrate. If you have an access need, check out Accessibility at SFMOMA to see what we offer!
Sharing the work of eleven artists who have influenced Shannon’s practice, Don’t mind if I do destabilizes rigid ableist and exclusionary museum “best practices” like sparse seating, untouchable objects, dense wall labels, and guards who protect rather than invite engagement. It is a project built upon a framework of flexibility. By welcoming glitches, inviting informality and messiness, and unsettling the hierarchy of objects, Don’t mind if I do prioritizes people over artwork and makes more room for us to show up as our full selves.
Coming to you live from NIAD's 23rd Street Studio, Richmond:
The Way We Are, Now
Runway Fashion Show Event
Saturday September 14
1 to 4pm