we’re out of control: garima thakur & Sharita Towne

May 8 - May 30, 2021 | UO Center for Art Research at Well Well Projects, Portland, OR

Artists:

garima thakur and Sharita Towne

Overview: 

we’re out of control is an exhibition centered on the ongoing impact and manifestations of colonialism—weaving multiple histories and geographies into cross-cultural solidarity. The installation utilizes the architecture and location of the gallery space, prompting visitors to reflect on their contribution to and position within colonialist structures of global societies.

This exhibition is organized as part of Dismantling the House, a series of public programs and exhibitions curated by Yaelle S. Amir, for the Center for Art Research at the University of Oregon, as part of her 2020-21 Curator-in-Residence appointment. This series is made possible by generous support from the Ford Family Foundation.

about the exhibition:

we’re out of control is an exhibition centered on the ongoing impact and manifestations of colonialism—weaving multiple histories and geographies into cross-cultural solidarity. The installation utilizes the architecture and location of the gallery space, prompting visitors to reflect on their contribution to and position within colonialist structures of global societies. By looking to parallel diasporic experiences across continents and eras, and close readings and activations of the work of poet and activist Jayne Cortez, this collaboration points to the ways in which these narratives are constant, ingrained and interconnected

About the Artists:

garima thakur is an interdisciplinary artist born and raised in New Delhi. She works with histories, narratives and multitudinous realities of assimilation, alienation, and collectivism. She is currently stationed in Portland, OR, and works as an assistant professor of interaction media and graphic design at Western Oregon University.

Sharita Towne is a multidisciplinary artist and educator based in Portland, OR. Born and raised on the West Coast of the U.S. along Interstate 5 from Salem, OR, to Tacoma, WA and down to Sacramento, CA, Sharita is a true granddaughter of the great migration. She is most interested in engaging local and global Black geographies, histories, and possibilities. In her work, a shared art penetrates and binds people–artists, audience, organizers, civic structures, sisters, cousins, and landscape–in collective catharsis, grief, and joy. Sharita holds a BA from UC Berkeley, an MFA from Portland State University, and was recently appointed Program Head of the Pacific Northwest College of Art’s MFA in Visual Studies. Sharita’s work has received support from organizations like Creative Capital, the Fulbright Association, Art Matters, The Ford Family Foundation, Oregon Community Foundation, Oregon Arts Commission, The Miller Foundation, the Regional Arts and Culture Council, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Open Signal, SPACES in Cleveland, and the Independent Publishing Resource Center in Portland. She is a 2020 MRG Lilla Jewel Award recipient.

Additional support for this exhibition was generously provided by the Caldera Arts Residency program, Oregon Arts Commission and The Ford Family Foundation, and produced in partnership with Well Well Projects.

About the series:

…the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change. And this fact is only threatening to those (…) who still define the master’s house as their only source of support. – Audre Lorde, 1979

In the face of a global pandemic, an escalating climate crisis and a social uprising – governments, corporations, and society’s various institutions have wielded their authority forcefully and with little compromise. Abuses of power have seeped into every aspect of our lives—from financial stability, physical and mental health, and personal safety to our social well-being, sovereignty, and sense of hope. Yet, while felt more acutely in 2020, for many the impact of these crises has persisted for decades – an escalation of ongoing challenges. As we watch capitalist considerations further risk and control the safety and welfare of individuals worldwide, it is evermore clear that our society must unlearn its ways.

The series of programs Dismantling the House presents the ways in which the dominance asserted by those holding onto power has been felt continuously by communities across generations and geographies.  The participating artists look inwards to their experiences, outwards to our collective practices, back to historical precedents and forward to visions of culture unraveling itself. The programs propose ways of viewing and claiming agency over our present so that new strategies, systems and infrastructures can take form.

Read about the other projects in the series here.