Upon a Pile of Old Bones

Wed, Jan 26, 2022

Marking the February 6 close of the exhibition Carrie Moyer and Sheila Pepe: Tabernacles for Trying Times, Sheila Pepe will deliver an online lecture in which she questions how the concept of “origin” has shaped her work, identity, and world view. Built around the artist’s current project to visit collections and archeological sites on the Italian peninsula to find her ancestors’ bones, this richly illustrated lecture weaves imagery of architecture, artifacts, and reliquaries into a narrative of Pepe's quest for her family’s origin and her investigation of the history of Western civilization. The ideas presented by Pepe will be laid out as a Moebius strip, evidencing how history, art, and politics are intertwined.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Sheila Pepe is best known for her fiber-based, site-specific installations that challenge notions of domestic crafts and “women’s work.” These web-like structures intervene in architectural spaces and galleries, creating volumes, lines, and shadows that are subject to the changing conditions of the environments they occupy. Part of Pepe’s commitment to feminist politics is her long-standing engagement with collective making. In 2007, she undertook several ambitious collaborative projects, including Liquid Sky at MoMA PS1. Pepe’s other collaborations have reversed the terms of making and invited collective unmaking. In her Common Sense series, participants are encouraged to unravel her textile installations and use the materials for their own purposes.

Image: Pepe’s archival materials from her ongoing investigation into Mediterranean archeology, and the history of Catholic artifacts and iconography currently on view in Carrie Moyer and Sheila Pepe: Tabernacles for Trying Times. Photo: Jenna Bascom

Please review our health and safety protocols before you arrive. MAD strongly recommends all visitors six months and older are vaccinated against Covid-19 and visitors ages two and up wear face coverings, even if vaccinated. Thank you for your cooperation.

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