What Remains

About the Exhibition

Barbara Diener
Pao Houa Her
Jon Rafman
Lieko Shiga

Exploring displacement as one of the most unsettling of human experiences, the exhibition What Remains features four contemporary artists who contend with the psychic and physical aftermath of dislocation. In photography and video projects, these artists suture memories into their present narratives, expressing their individualized experiences of living with a fractured identity—one that must encompass geographies and cultures separated by space and time in one unified self. Inherent in each artist’s process is a search for continuity. Therefore, their work simultaneously considers both personal backstory and the social geography of the communities, subcultures, or families in which they currently live. Negotiating parallel worlds, these artists metaphorically inhabit a multiplicity of places that could never coexist in reality, but which find expression in photographic representation. What Remains is curated by MoCP’s Assistant Curator Allison Grant.

The 2014-2015 season is sponsored by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, BMO Harris Bank and the Illinois Arts Council Agency. It is also partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.