In a Plain Brown Wrapper (part of Platforms: 10 Years of Chances Dances)

Opening September 3rd, 5-9pm Exhibition on display through September 18th Artists: Margaret Bobo-Dancy, Elijah Burgher, Sky Heyn Cubacub, Rami George, Gnat Madrid Brilmyer, Kiam Marcelo Junio, Daniel Luedtke, Madsen Minax, Dan Paz, Amina Ross, Colin Self, Michael Sirianni, Andre Perez and The Trans Oral History Project, Ni'Ja Whitson, Xina Xurner Curated by Oli Rodriguez The exhibition takes its name from the common practice of discretely shipping, wrapping, delivering and transporting pornographic merchandise In a Plain Brown Wrapper. Poetically, this negotiation of public and private sensitivities is made possible by an almost aggressively anti-aesthetic container, echoing a philosophical argument about porn itself as the inverse of art. Yet the mysteriousness of the package - the endless possibilities of what might be (writhing) within - invokes a questioning social dynamism akin to many contemporary art practices. The artists in IAPBW unwrap alternative sexualities by re-presenting modes of desire. These offerings are both tantalizing and confrontational, engaging in and critiquing visual pleasure simultaneously. In this sense, the artists carve out a new fertile terrain in the literal and metaphorical space between pornography and art. Accordingly, this is an exhibition of marginalized bodies. At the heart of the matter is the struggle of othered bodies to exist with intention and truth amidst a backdrop of capitalism and cultural warfare. The value of some bodies over others is the essence of our contemporary political moment. This show asserts in no uncertain terms that blacks lives matter, trans lives matter, and that we - (most) sex workers and (most) working artists - are the 99%. With formal and political roots in photography, this discourse around class, representation and the art/porn divide was pioneered by the late (great) Barbara DeGenevieve, who passionately engaged these vital questions with her research and studio practice. This show is in tribute to her and her many provocations. IABPW is a part of PLATFORMS: 10 Years of Chances Dances, a ten-year anniversary celebration and multi-venue retrospective featuring the work of over 75 Chances community members, organizers, and allies. PLATFORMS celebrates the CHANCES DANCES! community's role in Chicago's art and nightlife scenes, and in contemporary creative and political culture at large. See the PLATFORMS full schedule of events here: https://www.facebook.com/events/665503720216327/ or here: http://www.chancesdances.org/platforms The Gray Center is ADA accessible. For more info on visiting the Gray Center during the run of the exhibition: http://graycenter.uchicago.edu/contact