Testing Grounds
October 9 - November 6, 2020
Group exhibition curated by Austen Camille and Alexandria Nazar
Photos by Austen Camille
Testing Grounds brings a diverse group of 20 emerging Philadelphia artists and artist collectives into conversation with the public spaces of Cherry Street Pier and Race Street Pier. The artists are engaged with ‘the public’ as an unfixed site that holds infinite realities. It is a place that can and should be constantly re-imagined and reconfigured.
Each of the artists is tackling the large and unwieldy subject of 'the public' in remarkable, thoughtful ways. They raise questions about historical use of public space, concerns about the current intersection of identity and public, and they posit dreams and visions of a new public. They aim to interject surprise or discomfort or wonder into these spaces. Essentially, each artist is asking: how do we share space with those we do not know, and how do we want to shape these spaces? The artists were given minimal direction and maximum opportunity to imagine their practice in a larger context, both spatially and in terms of audience. The result is a wide array of site-specific happenings and installations alongside works of art placed throughout the adjacent piers.
Learn more about the exhibition:
https://www.cherrystreetpier.com/event/2020/09/testing-grounds/