Softer, Softest: Part II

AC Institute
16 E. 48th St, 4th Floor, NYC

Opening reception: September 28th, 6-8 pm
On view: September 25 - October 5
Gallery hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday 1-5 pm or by appointment

AC Institute is pleased to present Softer, Softest: Parts I, II, & III. For this series of shows, three artists consider the evolving nature of intimacy and exchange. Over the course of the exhibition, Monika Uchiyama, Peter Fankhauser, and Julian Chams will take turns transforming the gallery into solo-project spaces for two week periods. All three artists are invited to incorporate or reference each other’s work in their individual projects. Each of these will be punctuated by an opening reception and frame the following project until the exhibition closes. By entering into an exchange that strategically codifies what is too personal, too soft, or too queer, these three artists reposition the notion of vulnerability in closer proximity to control.

For the second part of the series, Julian Chams will present an installation using vulnerable, decaying and forgotten elements such as fabric scraps, personal residue, and photographs of intimate ecological encounters. These neglected items gain value, reassembled as symbols of ritual, survival, and heroism, while still revealing their impermanent nature.

The project series started with an installation by Peter Fankhauser (9/11-9/21) and will end with one by Monika Uchiyama (10/9 -10/19).