Feldman Gallery Hosts West Coast Premiere of Signs of Change

February 02, 2010

Pacific Northwest College of Art’s Feldman Gallery + Project Space is proud to host the West Coast premiere of Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960s to Now, opening February 4.

Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960s to Now features hundreds of posters, photographs, moving images, audio clips, and ephemera that bring to life over 40 years of activism, political protest, and campaigns for social justice. Curated by Dara Greenwald and Josh MacPhee as part of New York-based Exit Art’s Curatorial Incubator Program, this important and timely exhibition surveys the creative work of dozens of international social movements.

Organized thematically, the exhibition presents the creative outpourings of social movements, such as those for civil rights and black power in the United States; democracy in China; anti-apartheid in Africa; squatting in Europe; environmental activism and women’s rights internationally; and the global AIDS crisis, as well as uprisings and protests, such as those for indigenous control of lands; against airport construction in Japan; and for social change in France. The exhibition also explores the development of powerful counter-cultures that evolve beyond traditional politics and create distinct aesthetics, life-styles, and social organizations.

Although histories of political groups and counter-cultures have been written, and political and activist shows have been held, this exhibition is a groundbreaking attempt to chronicle the artistic and cultural production of these movements. Signs of Change offers a chance to see relatively unknown or rarely seen works, and is intended to not only provide a historical framework for contemporary activism, but also to serve as an inspiration for the present and the future

_Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960s to Now_ is an exhibition produced by Exit Art, NY, and was the inaugural project of the Curatorial Incubator Program. The program expands Exit Art’s commitment to young and emerging curators and scholars in contemporary art, by giving material, financial, and human resources to developing curatorial talent. Working with Exit Art directors and staff, fellows curate large-scale exhibition projects, learn fundraising, develop outreach and educational programs, and co-publish a catalogue. Signs of Change was presented at Exit Art from September 20 - December 6, 2008 and traveled to the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, and the Arts Center of the Capital Region (co-presented with the Department of the Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY).”

Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Learn more about “_Signs of Change_”:http://www.exitart.org/site/pub/exhibition_programs/signs_of_change/index.html.

Image courtesy of Exit Art Gallery.