There are many ways to put a face on intersectionality, and Pamela Moriearty’s curated exhibition from the University Galleries permanent collection does a wonderful job of bringing the popular concept to life.
Intersectionality is a theoretical framework that asks viewers to consider how a person’s subject position—their gender, race, ability, sexuality, class, etc.—shape how they understand and experience the world. The exhibit includes nine photographs, canvases, and prints created over the past 60 years, including the work of former Illinois State University art students.
Inspired by active learning techniques, the project uses art as a prompt to consider the lived experiences the intersectional gaze make tangible. The exhibit arouses empathy, encourages discussion, and motivates further inquiry on the topics raised by each artwork.
Moriarty explains how “some artists in the exhibition capture their viewer’s attention with an unexpected image—a fractured stereotype—emphasizing a form of agency that may be denied to others.” Other pieces focus on historical injustices and visual resistance to stereotypes. “Four African American Men in a Meeting,” (1961) makes visible the work of Citizen’s Trust, a Black-owned bank that was able to subvert structural barriers to Black home ownership before the Fair Housing act. Charlene Teters’s (Spokane) untitled piece from her The Good White Man series (1991) calls attention to the persistence of anti-Native racist tropes in politics. Britten Traughber’s “Fighter 2,” ( 2013) challenges Asian feminine stereotypes.
Her project is part of a curating internship in the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts at Illinois State University, where she has been a graduate student-at-large since 2016.
The exhibit runs September 11 through November 1 in the the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) Program’s Rachel Cooper Gallery (237 Rachel Cooper Hall). It is free and open to the public. A detailed resource catalog accompanies the exhibit.
