Just in Time: 30 Years of Collective Practice
Exhibition Manager / Curator: Tina Plokarz
26 April – 23 June 2019
Inspired by the creative and synergistic effects of collective practice, Vox Populi had commissioned a series of collaborative art projects and related public programs on the occasion of its 30th Anniversary. Generated through an open call to past and present Vox Populi collective members, and guest juried by Philadelphia artists Jacque Liu and Li Sumpter, Just In Time featured an intergenerational selection of current members and alumni working across various disciplines.
The six gallery projects celebrated artistic experimentation, community, and change, while attempting to bring into focus Vox Populi’s cultural principles established over three decades of collective practice. Unified by aesthetic affinities, thematic similarities and structural resemblances, the projects provided insight into the social dynamics of collective identities, question the physical and emotional implications of art spaces, challenged the assumed hierarchies of intergenerational collaboration, and underscored the collective’s ethos of equality, inclusivity, and free artistic expression. Just In Time was an affirmation of the collective’s spirit while underscoring the value and power of collaborative practice.
Major support for Vox Populi’s 30th Anniversary was kindly provided by the Edna W. Andrade Fund at The Philadelphia Foundation. Additional programming support provided by The Wind Foundation.
The exhibition and related programs are commemorated in the risograph-printed catalogue “Just In Time,” featuring overviews of each commissioned gallery project, an essay by Tina Plokarz in collaboration with exhibition jurors Jacque Liu and Li Sumpter. The publication is designed by Levi Bentley and Aaron Terry. The essay has also been published on The Artblog, here.
As exhibition manager and curator I facilitated the special open call, administered logistics and loans, developed and implemented events, raised funds and monitored budgets, and engaged with over 20 artists to ensure the successful implementation of their collaborative exhibition and event projects reflecting on the collective’s values and legacy in Philadelphia.
More Information on the exhibition and its events here.
Featured Gallery Projects:
Some of its Parts, an immersive-installation by Kelsey Halliday-Johnson, Nadia Hironaka, Mark Stockton and Matthew Suib.
2 Rivers + 30 Years, a three-channel video by Laura Heyman and Luxin Zhang.
To Let, a memory project by James Johnson and Erin Murray.
Lipstick and Load, a feminine identity project by Erica Prince and Katie Rauth.
Shadow from a world apart, an installation and series of performances by Jim Strong, Robert Chaney, Paul Swenbeck and Linda Yun.
This is a Transmission, a single-channel audio installation featuring voices by Levi Bentley, Marie Hinson, Marion Horowitz, Lane Speidel, Malachi Lily and Eppchez.
Program Highlights:
The Everybody Ekphrastic Audio Tour, a three-part writing and audio workshop, facilitated by Levi Bentley, Bea Huff Hunter and Matt Kalasky.
A Taste of Sustainability, a public round table, organized by Tina Plokarz and Suzanne L. Seesman. Read more about the event here.
From the Archive, an online series on Vox’s artistic microcosm and social transformations, organized by Tina Plokarz. Read the series here.