‘You Hurt My Feelings, Now I'm Gonna Make Art About It’
‘You Hurt My Feelings, Now I'm Gonna Make Art About It’ was a group exhibition open February 14th - March 1st 2019 at the Turner Gallery in Alfred Ny.
This exhibition was designed and curated by myself (Grace Fossett), Esmé Saccuccimorano, and Makenzie BJ. Morrow.
It came into being after we realized we had each spent a year making works about our romantic/familial relationships and all felt the same strangeness and reluctance in talking about it to our professors and peers. As if the fact that it was “relationship art” somehow made it less valid or important. We felt that we would be seen just as “girls making art about ex-boyfriends.” We felt that we would be judged in a negative way, and our work be seen as less than. This show seeks to to celebrate/poke fun at the wallowing nature of emotion, it lauds the often over dramatized-ness of breakups and fights within families, it champions the importance of relationships with the self, and it laughs in the face of those who would judge/devalue us and our wallowing work. (Photos to soon come)
Books
In addition to curating and making work for this exhibition, we also produced two books about/for the project. One written by the genius and talented Esmé Saccuccimorano (https://www.esmesaccuccimorano.com) titled “What we’ve been thinking about,” it acted as a show statement and further explanation of the thought that went into the project. This book also includes a small selection of a playlist that goes along with the exhibition “Songs For Wallowing.” The full playlist is public on Spotify account esmesaccuccimorano. The other book was written by myself and titled “Very Serious Poems About Very Serious Things” a short book of 20 limericks that spoke both with humor and somberness about the relationships that have come in and out of my life in the past few years. Below is a small selection of poems from the book.
Both are available to purchase for a small price! email: camerongfossett@gmail.com
Gallery Talk and Mending Workshop
Something that was important to us with this project was that it activated the space of a gallery more than a regular ole’ exhibition. With this in mind we held a Gallery Talk and Mending Workshop, our pr. statement read as such:
“Mend your tatted clothes while you mend your tattered heart! Bring your questions critiques, hole-y sweaters and jeans, socks and pillowcases, mittens and quilts, etc. Mending materials and insight into “You Hurt My Feelings, Now I'm Gonna Make Art About It” will be provided!”
On the poster we only specified the start time, allowing the night to run its course. We ended up being there for over three hours. We had 15 spots open for people to attend but in the end about 20 people came and went throughout the night. We chatted about nothing, but also talked in great depth about the show. We more facilitated a conversation about the topics and themes we were addressing in the exhibition than held a formal gallery talk. Conversation topics including, “Is it possible to use making work/art as a way of healing from a traumatic situation? And when does relying on your art to heal end up hurting/hindering you?" to “Yes it is a real shit-show to be making “relationship art” at a school small enough that the person you are making it about will definitely see it,” were discussed and thought through by all present.
