CONTACT:
Elisa Smilovitz / 551.486.3273 / [email protected]
James Michael Nichols, BRIC / 718.683.5980 / [email protected]
to hold a we
BRIC House exhibition will feature newly commissioned and recent work by fourteen emerging and early-career disabled artists and collectives from the BRIClab residency program, co-organized by Maria McCarthy, danilo machado, and the exhibition artists
On View: September 19 – December 22, 2024
BRIC,a leading, multi-disciplinary arts and media institution anchored in downtown Brooklyn, is pleased to presentto hold a we, a group exhibition of newly commissioned and recent work by fourteen emerging and early-career disabled artists and collectives from the BRIClab residency program centered around the interconnected relationships that facilitate making and being. to hold a we isorganized by Maria McCarthy, Curatorial Associate, and danilo machado, Co-Curator, with exhibition artistsA. Sef, Alex Dolores Salerno, Brothers Sick (Ezra and Noah Benus), Chinese Artists and Organizers (CAO) Collective 离离草, Cinthya Santos Briones, Dominic Bradley, Finnegan Shannon, Isabella Vargas, Linda Ryan, OlaRonke Akinmowo, Pelenakeke Brown, Steven Anthony Johnson II, and Yasi Ghanbari. The artists use memory, intimacy, grief, and the archive as both a source of inspiration and a means of connection to make works across mediums such as drawing, text, sculpture, video, photography, installation, and performance. The exhibition will be on view at BRIC House (647 Fulton St.) in the Main Gallery and Project Room from September 19, 2024, to December 22, 2024, with an opening reception on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, from 7:00 – 9:00 pm.To attend the opening reception, pleaseRSVP.At the request of artists involved in the exhibition, masks are required at the Opening Reception and will be provided for all guests.
to hold a we is rooted in the ten principles of Disability Justice, penned by Patty Berne, Mia Mingus, Stacey Milbern, and fellow Sins Invalid activists. Through these principles – including intersectionality, wholeness, cross-movement organizing, cross-disability solidarity, and collective liberation – the exhibition poses kinship, abundance, tenderness, and trust as alternatives to structural inaccessibility, exploitation, and violences. The exhibition borrows its title from “SCORE FOR LIFT AND TRANSFER” (2013) by Constantina Zavitsanos and Park McArthur. The titular “we” reflects the plurality of the artistic, curatorial, and community processes that made the exhibition possible and poses a counter to ever-present isolation and erasure.
For the first time, in 2023, BRIClab: Contemporary Art welcomed applications from artists, collaboratives, and collectives whose practices embody and recognize interdependence and interconnectedness in process or product. Inspired by the work of disabled artists and activists, BRIClab: Contemporary Art expanded its programming to include in-person, virtual, and hybrid participation, and shaped its residency calendar, offerings, and outcomes according to the artists’ needs and interests. to hold a we expands on BRIClab’s model of collaborative, interdisciplinary learning and making and applies them to the creation of an exhibition. For this exhibition, the curators and artists, including the 2023-24 BRIClab: Contemporary Art cohort, select 2022-23 residents, and recent BRIClab: Video Art residents, reflected on the roles of exhibitions and art spaces in fostering community and promoting accessibility. The exhibition artists actively participated in conceptualizing, curating, and executing the exhibition. Together, with the curators, they envisioned the exhibition’s theme and goals, selected artworks, developed the installation layout, and created accessibility measures and resources.
The exhibition will span the Main Gallery and the Project Room, with the Project Room acting as a screening room. to hold a we incorporates the following access protocols and resources: large print didactics; social narratives; touch objects; accessible label and artwork height; exhibition seating; open video captioning for all video work in the exhibition; downloadable, screen reader accessible exhibition didactics; and live CART captioning, ASL interpretation, and a sensory friendly, low-stim room and sensory kit during events. Further information can be found in the Commitment to Accessibility section below.
Maria McCarthy and danilo machado said:
“It has been an honor to work with these artists to bring this exhibition to life. We thank the artists for their care and trust in us and in one another. In an increasingly individualized world, our shared processes – of learning, making, being, living, and loving – remind us that the most meaningful work is made in collaboration and in community.”
to hold a we also reflects BRIC’s commitment to fostering a creative community and supporting artists by offering BRIClab residents opportunities to present their work, gain new skills, and engage in BRIC’s programming beyond the scope of the residency. Former BRIClab artists have gone on to be featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions at BRIC House and the Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park.
Wes Jackson, President BRIC, said:
“At BRIC, we are committed to showcasing diverse voices and fostering an inclusive creative community. to hold a we exemplifies this commitment by bringing together a remarkable group of disabled artists from our BRIClab residency whose work cultivates a deeper understanding of interconnectedness and accessibility. We are proud to support and celebrate their contributions to the cultural landscape.”
On December 7, 2024, BRICwill host a full-day symposium on the experiences, perspectives, and work of disabled artists with hybrid, virtual, and in-person programming. The symposium is designed to reflect the identity and purpose of visual arts residency programs—providing a safe and comfortable space for artists invested in creating, experimenting, sharing, learning, reflecting, and growing their practice. The programming will prioritize interactive workshops and participatory performances over traditional panel discussions and lectures. Please check BRIC’s website and social media for updates and further public programming associated with the exhibitions.
To learn more about the exhibition, visit bricartsmedia.org/exhibition/to-hold-a-we/
A. Sef (they/them)
2023-24 BRIClab: Contemporary Art*
Based in Brooklyn
Sef is an audio describer, access consultant, massage therapist, and somatic educator. Their work in dance, sensory design, and disability access work informs their understanding of personal embodiment as a relational project. They are a co-founder of Autosomatica alongside Wanda Gala. Their teaching practice has served students at Gibney Dance, Abrons Arts Center, Pratt Institute, UC Santa Barbara and Rutgers University. They have supported programs at The Shed, Lincoln Center, Roundabout Theatre Company, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, CultureHub, Frieze, Performance Space New York, and Brooklyn Arts Exchange.
Alex Dolores Salerno (they/them)
2023-24 BRIClab: Contemporary Art
Born in unceded Nacotchtank and Piscataway land colonially known as Washington D.C.; based in Brooklyn
Informed by queer-crip experience, community, and culture, Salerno works to critique standards of productivity, normativity, 24/7 society, and the commodification of our lives in order to make space for having needs. They have exhibited at The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, The 8th Floor, the Ford Foundation Gallery, all NY; Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT; MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; Espacio de Arte Contemporáneo de Castellón; ARGOS centre for audiovisual arts, Brussels; among others. They have been awarded a Wynn Newhouse Award and an Art Matters Foundation Artist2Artist Fellowship. Recent publications include Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art and Art in America. Salerno has been an artist in residence at Art Beyond Sight’s Art & Disability Residency, the Artist Studios Program at the Museum of Arts and Design, and the Visual Artist AIRspace Residency at Abrons Arts Center. Salerno received their MFA from Parsons School of Design and their BS from Skidmore College.
Brothers Sick (Ezra and Noah Benus) (he/they)
2022-23 BRIClab: Contemporary Art
Born in the Bronx; based in Brooklyn and the Bronx
Brothers Sick (Ezra and Noah Benus) is a sibling artistic collaboration rooted in histories and knowledge of Jewishness, disability justice, illness, spirituality, and care. Their practice has been supported internationally through projects and exhibitions at Visual AIDS, The Shed, Gibney Dance, and Rochester Art Institute, all NY; Perlman Teaching Museum at Carleton College, MN; VIVO Media Arts Centre, Vancouver, BC; Museion of Contemporary Art Bolzano, Italy; HAU Berlin and Museum für Moderne Kunst, both Germany; and Shape Arts, UK. Commissioned print contributions are included in Blackwood Gallery’s publication SDUK: Lingering, Kingdom of The Ill reader published by Hatje Cantz Verlag, and How To Be Disabled In A Pandemic (2025) by NYU Press. Their work has been reviewed in publications such as Artforum, PIN–UP, Mousse Magazine, Ocula, e-flux Criticism, Público ípsilon, and Weltkunst. They are alumni of CUNY Hunter College and CUNY City College of New York.
ezrabenus.comnoahbenus.com@ezrabenus
Chinese Artists and Organizers (CAO) Collective 离离草 (they/them)
2023-24 BRIClab: Contemporary Art
Chinese Artists and Organizers (CAO) Collective 离离草 creates art to empower relational community healing. They make space for nuanced narratives rooted in China, the Sinophone diaspora, and other experiences from the margins. As cultural organizers, they explore social justice-oriented theorizing and narrativizing through communal and processual art practices. Their interdisciplinary praxis interweaves collective poetry, performance, food art, clay, photography, sound, video, children’s games, meditation, herbal medicine, and installation. Their works investigate systems of discipline, control, censorship, and capitalist extraction and reimagine memory/memorials, rituals, intimacy, and queer/feminist kinship to (re)build sustainable community infrastructures. They explore the idea of languaging as a moving and fluid site, a contact zone for improvisation. Their community-engaged art organizing has been supported by the Queens Art Fund, Asian American Arts Alliance’s What Can We Do? grant, John Hope Franklin Documentary Award, Benenson Award in the Arts, and beyond. CAO has hosted artist talks at alpha nova & galerie futura (Germany), Hamilton College, UC Irvine, Pratt Institute, Duke University, Wesleyan University, and University of Oklahoma. Their community collective poetry and translations have been published by Irrelevant Press, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, and The Massachusetts Review.
caocollective.com, @caocollective
Cinthya Santos Briones (she/her)
2023-24 BRIClab: Contemporary Art
Born in Tulancingo Hgo., Mexico; based in Brooklyn
Cinthya Santos Briones is a visual artist, educator, and cultural organizer with indigenous Nahua roots. Santos Briones’ interdisciplinary practice includes photography, historical archives, writing, ethnography, drawings, collage, embroidery, and popular education. With a background in ethnohistory and anthropology, she worked as a researcher at Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, focusing on issues of indigenous migration, codex, textiles, and traditional medicine. Santos Briones has participated in exhibitions at Smack Mellon, Green-Wood Cemetery, El Museo del Barrio, the Museum of the City of New York, the International Center of Photography, the Latinx Project, and the Tang Teaching Museum & Art Gallery, all NY; Sky Blue Gallery, Portland, OR; and the Trout Museum of Art, Appleton, WI. Santos Briones is the recipient of fellowships and residencies from the Magnum Foundation, En Foco, Wave Hill Public Garden & Cultural Center, National Geographic Research and Exploration, We Woman, National Fund for Culture and the Arts of México. She is co-author of the book “The Indigenous Worldview and its Representations in Textiles of the Nahua community of Santa Ana Tzacuala, Hidalgo,” and the documentary, The Huichapan Codex. Santos Briones is Adjunct Faculty at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. She holds an MFA in creative writing and photography from Ithaca College-Cornell University.
cinthya-santosbriones.com@cinthyasantosb
Dominic Bradley (they/them)
2023-24 BRIClab: Contemporary Art*
Born in Germany; based in Brooklyn
Born in Germany into a military household prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, Dominic Cinnamon Bradley is a Brooklyn-based Black, disabled, nonbinary visual artist and writer who spent their formative years in the Crunk-era “Dirty South.” Dominic’s creative practice is dedicated to their late uncle Bennett Bradley (Ibaye) and relies on such mediums as mixed-media, collage, and assemblage to tell stories about trouble, trauma, grief, and growth. Their work was featured in SICK at the SF LGBT Center. Previous fellowships include RiseOut Activist-in-Residence and Crip Camp x Adobe. In addition to holding a BA in Sociology from The Johns Hopkins University and an MSW from Columbia University, Dominic recently earned a UX/UI certification from the University of Utah with the intent to design for social impact.
Finnegan Shannon (they/them)
2023-24 BRIClab: Contemporary Art*
Born in Berkeley, CA; based in Brooklyn
Finnegan Shannon is an artist experimenting with forms of access. They intervene in ableist structures with humor, earnestness, and rage. Some of their recent work includes Alt Text as Poetry, a collaboration with Bojana Coklyat that explores the expressive potential of image description; Do You Want Us Here or Not, a series of benches and cushions designed for exhibition spaces; and Don’t mind if I do, a conveyor-belt-centered exhibition that prioritizes rest and play. They have done projects with MUDAM Luxembourg, the Queens Museum, moCa Cleveland, the High Line, MMK Frankfurt, MCA Denver, and Nook Gallery. Their work has been supported by the Disability Futures Fellowship, a Wynn Newhouse Award, an Eyebeam fellowship, and grants from Art Matters Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, and the Disability Visibility Project. Their work has been written about in Art in America, BOMB Magazine, The Believer, and Out.
shannonfinnegan.com, @finneganshann0n
Isabella Vargas (she/her)
2022-23 BRIClab: Video Art
Born in Portland, OR; based in Brooklyn
Isabella Vargas crafts poetic documentaries, combining captured footage and drawn animations to rewrite narratives about her intersectional identities of Latinidad and disability. Sometimes isolated from her multiple communities, being a multiply disabled Latina, Vargas questions marginalization of people with intersecting identities of disability, ethnic identity, and queerness, and how prejudice and struggle stem from generational trauma. Vargas has had screenings at New York Lift Off, Revolution Me Film Festival, and Painted Ladies Collective, all NY; YoFi Yonkers Film Festival, NY; Oregon Short Film Festival; WYO Film Festival, Cheyenne, WY; and Miami Independent Film Festival, FL. She has been a UnionDocs fellow and received a Merit Award from Docs Without Borders. Vargas holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College.
Linda Ryan (she/her)
2022-23 BRIClab: Video Art
Born in Binghamton, NY; based in Brooklyn
Linda Ryan is a choreographer, facilitator, and arts researcher. Her artistic work pulls from movement, video art, and immersive media to explore physical embodiment through digital means. Much of her artistic work deals with gaze and is oriented by, though not always explicitly about, her experiences as a visually impaired artist. She previously completed residencies at PlySpace, Keshet Dance+ Center for the Arts, and the Institute for Electronic Arts at Alfred University. Linda holds a BA in dance from the George Washington University, where she studied under Dana Tai Soon Burgess, Maida Withers, Anthony Gongora, and Matt Reeves.
liryanmovement.com@liryanmovement
OlaRonke Akinmowo (she/her)
2022-23 BRIClab: Video Art
Born and based in Brooklyn
Olaronke is an interdisciplinary artist who works in collage, papermaking, printmaking, book arts, and stop-motion animation. She is also a Set Decorator/Dresser for Film & TV and the Creator/Director of The Free Black Women’s Library, a social art project that features a collection of over 5,000 books written by Black women and Black non-binary folks, as well as a wide array of free public programming, mutual aid initiatives, a virtual Reading Club and a weekly book swap. Through her art, she creates, offers, and expands counter narratives around the constructs of safety, beauty and sanity and aims to highlight the importance and transformative praxis of self-reflection and collective care. Her work is guided by the principles of Black Feminism, Afro-Futurism and nature. She has received notable fellowships and residencies from various cultural institutions and art organizations including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Foundation for the Arts, Women’s Studio Workshop, Baldwin For The Arts, The Robert Blackburn Printmaking Shop, Culture Push and The Laundromat Project. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Hyperallergic, Teen Vogue, Time Out, and BUST.
thefreeblackwomenslibrary.com@thefreeblackwomenslibrary
Pelenakeke Brown (she/her)
2023-24 BRIClab: Contemporary Art
Born in Aotearoa, New Zealand; working between Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, NZ and New York City
Pelenakeke Brown is a disabled, indigenous, interdisciplinary artist. Her practice explores the intersections between disability theory and Sāmoan concepts and investigates sites of knowledge, archives, relationality and intimacy. She uses technology, writing, poetry, and performance to explore these ideas. Her work has been presented at Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, Judson Memorial Church, the Bruno Walter Auditorium (New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center), Marian Goodman Gallery, Flux Factory, all NY; Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, OH; Schwules Museum, Berlin, Germany; and Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand. Working globally, she has participated in residencies including Kampnagel, Disability. Dance. Artistry. at Dance/NYC, Denniston Hill, Laundromat Project, and Eyebeam. Select performance works include ‘enter//return’ commissioned by Sophiensaele, Cripping the Queer Festival, and ‘Channels’ for The Shed Open Call with artist Yo-Yo Lin. She is a co-founder of Rotations, a collaborative digital practice for disabled artists to teach, share methodology and gather. Pelenakeke received a BA from the University of Auckland and a Certificate in Studio Practice at the National Academy Museum and School (now known as National Academy of Design).
Steven Anthony Johnson II (they/them)
2023-24 BRIClab: Contemporary Art
Born in Baltimore, MD; based in Brooklyn
Steven Anthony Johnson II is a draftsperson, interpretive archivist, writer and curator. Utilizing the language of drawing, animation, and photo-documentary their work attempts to make peace between the religious, intellectual, and humanistic ideals in relation to Blackness and “Otherness” through multidisciplinary storytelling. Johnson’s work has recently been featured at The Armory Show and The International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP), both NY; VAE Raleigh, NC; Cooper Gallery, UK; and others. Johnson has been in-residence at Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, ISCP, Field Projects, Inbreak, and The Royal Drawing School. They hold an MFA from the New York Academy of Art and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Yasi Ghanbari (she/they)
2023-24 BRIClab: Video Art
Born in Carlisle, PA; based in Brooklyn
Yasi Ghanbari employs an interdisciplinary critique-based practice to explore expressions of privilege, identity, and engagement. Through personal experiences and research, she examines interpassivity, including conscious consumerism and hashtag activism, often involving herself as a character to highlight her interpassive role. Her recent research on ability, health, and productivity, spotlights challenges in securing and maintaining support within institutional and cultural contexts. Ghanbari has shown her work at Paradice Palase, the Museum of the Moving Image, Fastnet, Anthology Film Archives, Essex Flowers, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, and NARS Foundation, all NY; the Grace Street Theater at Virginia Commonwealth University; Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL; and University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She has participated in the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program and the SHIFT Residency at The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts. Ghanbari attended the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture and holds an MFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
yasighanbari.com@social_media_yasi
*Pelenakeke Brown invited the artist to use her BRIClab studio space during the residency
###
SUPPORT
Lead support for to hold a we and associated programming comes from the Ford Foundation with additional convening support from the Terra Foundation for American Art.
BRIC’s Contemporary Art program is made possible with support from the Robert Lehman Foundation and TD Bank. Public support is provided, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council under the leadership of Speaker Adrienne Adams.
ABOUT BRIC
BRIC is a leading arts and media institution anchored in Downtown Brooklyn whose work spans contemporary visual and performing arts, media, and civic action. For over forty years, BRIC has shaped Brooklyn’s cultural and media landscape by presenting and incubating artists, creators, students, and media makers. As a creative catalyst for our community, we ignite learning in people of all ages and centralize diverse voices that take risks and drive culture forward. BRIC is building Brooklyn’s creative future. Learn more at bricartsmedia.org.
ABOUT BRIClab
BRIClab offers emerging to mid-career artists essential support and opportunities to share their work across three creative tracks – Contemporary Art, Film + TV, and Video Art. The residency aims to build a stronger and more diverse artistic community in Brooklyn by fostering relationships, supporting long-term growth, and creating a pipeline of engagement with BRIC. All residents receive a $2,500 stipend, mentorship, skills-based learning and professional development, and documentation of their work. Additional support, in the form of funding, space, access to equipment and media classes, and other resources vary according to tracks. To learn more about BRIClab, visit bricartsmedia.org/briclab.
COMMITMENT TO ACCESSIBILITY
BRIC is committed to advancing accessibility for disabled artists, audiences, and staff members. We understand disability as a spectrum, inclusive of neurodiversity, chronic illness, mental health disabilities, and invisible disabilities, as well as disabilities that affect mobility, sight, hearing, and other senses.
The main floor of BRIC House has an accessible entrance on Rockwell Place, in addition to an accessible, all-gender bathroom. The Main Gallery is accessible via a wheelchair lift. The Project Room is on the main level and it is wheelchair accessible. Portable FM assistive listening devices are available for programs on the Stoop and in the Ballroom upon request.
For more information about accessibility at BRIC, visit bricartsmedia.org/accessibility-bric.
