Arts and Entertainment

'Overlap: Life Tapestries' now on view in Robeson Gallery through Nov. 15

"Overlap: Life Tapestries," a group exhibition of self-identified women artists of different social and professional backgrounds and generations, will be on display in the Robeson Art Gallery at the HUB-Robeson Cultural Center, through Nov. 15. In the left foreground, a life-sized sculpture of a seated female drips broken glass. Behind her, three paintings depicting human-like, yet still somewhat alien, figures against dark backgrounds. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — "Overlap: Life Tapestries" will be on display in the Robeson Art Gallery at the HUB-Robeson Cultural Center, through Nov. 15.

"Overlap: Life Tapestries" brings together a group of self-identified women artists whose artistic practices are richly charged, not only in their realization of the ways discrimination is characterized and informed by national origin, race, social position and historical forces, but also in their understanding of how their socially inscribed bodies intersect. Curator Vida Sabbaghi acknowledges the various facets of the artists’ identities by utilizing an intersectional approach to counter the presentation, underrepresentation, and misrepresentation of women artists.

Featured artists Carrie Alter, Judy Gelles, Alice Hope, Sascha Mallon, Michela Martello, Sui Park, Shari Rubeck Weschler, Arlene Rush, Bastienne Schmidt, Jean Shin, Linda Stein, Jackie Tileston and Martha Wilson are of different social and professional backgrounds and generations, yet find a commonality in recreating the tapestry of their lives through their art while mapping the relationship between the personal and political. 

Previously, "Overlap: Life Tapestries" was on view at A.I.R. Gallery in New York City, one of the oldest cooperative galleries supporting female artists and curators. Pen + Brush, another strong supporter of female artists, will host a new iteration of "Overlap: Life Tapestries."

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Curator Vida Sabbaghi is the founder and director of COPE NYC whose mission is to provide innovative approaches to community engagement through art programs, accessible museum programs, conferences, exhibits, and artist in residence programs such as those in Soulangh Cultural Village, Taiwan, and Brooklyn, New York.

"Overlap: Life Tapestries" brings to University Park several opportunities for engagement and education:

Public reception

A free and public opening reception will be held in the gallery from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 20, with a performance by artist Martha Wilson, and a panel discussion which will include Vida Sabbaghi, Carrie Alter, Judy Gelles, Sascha Mallon, Michela Martello, Arlene Rush, Linda Stein, Martha Wilson and Karen Keifer-Boyd, Penn State professor of art education and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies.

Pop-up exhibition

On Nov. 2, Wilson and Keifer-Boyd, will select works that explore female subjectivity intersected with race, class and sexuality, among other identities. "Overlap: The Warp and Weft of Intersectionality," is a one-day pop-up exhibition at the Palmer Museum of Art.

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'Overlap: Full Circle'

Students in Keifer-Boyd’s “Including Difference” graduate course and “Visual Culture & Educational Technologies” undergraduate course will be developing activities to facilitate encounters with the works displayed in the exhibition. This project, called "Overlap: Full Circle," brings diverse groups of individuals together in the gallery and utilizes a 360-degree camera to film their reactions and conversations inspired by the art surrounding them. The footage will then be edited to create a fully-immersive experience that weaves life tapestries from the stories, drawings, performances, dances, and other interactions of those who have joined the circle of life in the Robeson Gallery. Continuing the circle of life started by "Overlap: Life Tapestries," "Overlap: Full Circle" will open on Dec. 5, in the Immersive Experience Lab in 109 Agricultural Science Building at Penn State University Park. 

About the Robeson Gallery

The Robeson Gallery is located on the Lower Level of the HUB-Robeson Center, and is open noon-6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and noon-4 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. For more information on this and other HUB-Robeson Galleries' exhibits, please visit studentaffairs.psu.edu/hub/art-galleries.

Last Updated September 18, 2018