Exhibition Overview
Every week Baltimore produces positive but underreported stories that demonstrate the power of communities to affect change and shape public spaces in positive ways. Unfortunately, the burden of shaping our neighborhoods towards the better is often placed on these proactive communities because the design of our man-made, urban spaces are largely expressions of the socio-economic gaps and political divides that inform them. But the practical value of these spaces is dependent upon the social relationships and personal interactions that take place within them. If our world is shaped by broader economic and political forces, how do we highlight and support the agency of individuals that operate within it? How do we articulate everyday practices as something significant? And how do we recognize the multitude of perspectives that permeate any one geographic location rather than aspiring to false notions of a harmonious society? This exhibition highlights artists who create perambulatory works that are intentional, purposeful, and participatory. Their practices help reveal power structures hiding in plain sight, provide additional platforms for personal narratives about the city, or provide participants with tools to critically examine their everyday surroundings.
A gallery installation of ephemera and visual material from the artists was on view at Cardinal’s gallery space from September 7 through October 5. In an effort to expand the frameworks of this type of exhibition, the larger project involved publicly advertised walks led by featured artists from September 7 through November 8. To fully experience the exhibition, audiences were meant to join the artists during their wanderings around the city.
Featured Artists: Miguel Braceli, Susie Brandt, Graham Coreil-Allen, J$Fur, Malcolm Peacock, Ada Pinkston, and Todd Shalom.
This exhibition was generously funded by the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation.
Exhibition Window by Caroline Lampinen
Gallery Installation
Exhibition views of works related to each artist’s perambulatory practice. These pieces were on view in Cardinal’s physical gallery space from September 7 through October 5, 2019.
Miguel Braceli, Irazú, 2016
Miguel Braceli
Miguel Braceli presented his video work Irazú (2016). This piece began as a collective performance in the Irazú volcano of Costa Rica, using scale and an expanded notion of drawing to create forms; placing the body and territory in relation to each other; and reworking traditional limits in the construction of a new landscape.
Susie Brandt, All the Walks, 2012
Susie brandt
Susie Brandt presented All the Walks (2012), a work that was begun two year earlier with her travels through the city. In 2010, the artist set about walking in Baltimore every day, with questions around devotional practices, embodied knowledge, and the marking of time driving her work.
Graham Coreil-Allen, Arches and Access Evening Wander, 2019
Graham Coreil-Allen
Graham Coreil-Allen presented two works for the exhibition, an installation titled Shards of Site in the gallery as well as an evening walk through one of the city’s largest parks titled Arches and Access Evening Wander.
J$FUR, Change of Course, 2019
J$FUR
J$FUR presented two works for the exhibition. In the gallery, a sound piece Non-Linear Impressions (2019) was available for visitors on headphones. A second work, Change of Course (2019), invited participants to undertake a sonic investigation of the city in two parts: individually and as a group. These works together prompted visitors to consider the sonic architecture that creates (and even separates) neighborhoods and creates distinct geographies within a city.
Malcolm Peacock, I Guess I’m Stuck With Me, 2019
Malcolm Peacock
Malcolm Peacock presented a public walk, I Guess I’m Stuck With Me, that explored themes of codependency and interdependency. Focusing on a range of lived experiences that took place in Baltimore between the years of 2016-2019, Peacock’s work asks us to consider how our own personal histories and the ways that we regard them, impact the emotional and physical spaces that we occupy in the present.
Ada Pinkston, Post-Colonial Historical Monuments Tour, 2019
Ada Pinkston
Ada Pinkston presented three photographs in the gallery documenting her ongoing Landmarked project in addition to debuting a new performative walk, the Post-Colonial Historical Monuments Tour.
Todd Shalom, Improvised Walk, 2019
Todd Shalom
Todd Shalom presented Improvised Walk (2019) based on many of the lessons he learned from other artists during his many years of leading the organization Elastic City. Much of this information can be found in his new book Prompts for Participatory Walks (2019).
the robert w. deutsch foundation
Our exhibition sponsor is part of the backbone of Baltimore’s rich art scene. The Robert W. Deutsch Foundation “invests in innovative people, projects, and ideas that improve the quality of life in Baltimore and beyond.” Their vision and generosity made it possible for us to undertake this innovative exhibition, which provided approximately 200 people the opportunity to explore their own city in new ways.