No Bodies:
Clothing as Disruptor
Curated by Alva Greenberg at Real Art Ways

Real Art Ways presents a collection of work from 26 artists curated by Alva Greenberg

Clothing conveys impressions of social background, economic status and ethnicity. Like physical features, it is one of the most common means used to project ourselves and understand others. This inclination to categorize others is also a way of controlling our responses to them. How often do we subconsciously imbue clothing with a significance which is misleading?

The altered and uninhabited clothing in No Bodies disrupts these autonomic responses by playing with perceptions of materiality, cultural identity, relationships, political beliefs and portraiture itself. Being free of physicality, the works in No Bodies force us to confront assumptions, as well as the ever-growing societal compartmentalization of people and behavior and the #socialmedia which increasingly rules our thinking.

What does it mean when we deconstruct a garment by unraveling it or burning it or turning it into another material? What does clothing symbolize when there never was or will be a body inside?

Featured artwork by

Reginald Dwayne Betts, John Boone, Marsha Borden, Rachel Breen, Chris Burden, Patrick Carroll, Susan Clinard, Hannah Conradt, E.V. Day, Lesley Dill, Anindita Dutta, Nina Dwin, Carlos Estévez, Kathryn Frund, Jonathan Herrera Soto, Jesse Krimes, Whitfield Lovell, Adriana Marmorek, Carol Paik, Sidney Russell, Karen Shaw, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Micki Watanabe Spiller, Cindy Tower, Cleo Wilkinson, and Cybèle Young.

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About the Curator

Alva Greenberg is a curator and artist based in Connecticut. She started her career as the co-owner and editor of The Gazette, a weekly newspaper in Old Lyme, CT. From 1997-2009, she ran ALVA Gallery, a contemporary art gallery in New London, CT dedicated to promoting mid-career artists working in all disciplines. In 2006, Alva Greenberg was a recipient of the Eugene O’Neill Center’s “25 of Connecticut’s most Uncommon Women” award and in 2018 she received the State of Connecticut Governor’s Patron of the Arts award. Ms. Greenberg currently serves on several boards including the French American Museum Exchange (FRAME), Romare Bearden Foundation and the Connecticut Arts Foundation. Past boards include the Florence Griswold Museum and Arttable.

 

Jonathan Herrera Soto, Te Encontrare Donde Crecen Rios Bajos, 2020

On March 29th, we hosted No Bodies: Artists in Conversation;  a discussion with contributing artists and designers about the work and concepts explored in this exhibit. CLICK HERE to watch.

CLICK HERE to listen in on a lively conversation with artists Carlos Estevez, Lesley Dill, Micki Watanabe Spiller and curator Alva Greenberg about this expansive group exhibit focusing on the ideas around garments and embodiment.

CLICK HERE to watch Anindita Dutta’s performance of प्रदक्षिणा | Pradakshina | Circumambulation. This performance is in relation to our No Bodies: Clothing as Disruptor exhibit and took place during April’s Creative Cocktail Hour. 

WFSB Channel 3 News Coverage clip 1

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With funding from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts