Labor in the Eyes of Artists: Zines, Scenes and In-Betweens

Exhibit extended to July 23, 2014

What: Exhibit: “Labor in the Eyes of Artists: Zines, Scenes and In-Betweens”
When: April 1 – July 23, 2014
Where: T.R. Anderson Gallery, Wilson Library
Location  |  Free and open to the public.

Gallery hours are 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday

About the exhibit

Labor in the Eyes of Artists: Zines, Scenes, and In-Betweens 

This exhibition includes artist zines, posters, and other forms of aesthetically derived text/image formats that explore issues of social justice and promote social change. The materials on exhibition are from the Francis V. Gorman Collection of Rare Art Books, the Social Welfare History Archives, and the University Libraries’ Special Collections. This exhibition was curated by Lindsay Keating, an online graduate student at the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana, studying Library and Information Science with an emphasis on Special Collections. Lindsay has been working in libraries for over a decade and she currently interns with Deborah Boudewyns, the Arts & Architecture Librarian, at the University.

A complementary exhibit of artwork is on view April 22 – May 3, 2014 at the Quarter Gallery, Regis Center for Art

The Enduring Spirit of Labor
Art Exhibition in the Quarter Gallery, Regis Center for Art

Anna Meteyer, an undergraduate senior majoring in Global Studies and Studio Art at the University of Minnesota, has organized The Enduring Spirit of Labor, an exhibition that speaks to injustices rampant in labor industries and services and celebrates the struggle against systemic forces of injustice. Anna’s involvement with the University of Minnesota Human Rights Program and her close affiliation with the Institute for Global Studies and Department of Art brings a multidisciplinary approach to social justice advocacy and artistic practice. The artists featured in the exhibition have worked collaboratively and individually on projects that speak to deeper dimensions of human rights violations in labor industries, challenging participants to consider elements of injustice existing beyond physical and explicit violence.

Two common themes arise in the artists’ works: the exposure of underlying social, political, and economic systems maintaining injustices in labor industries; and an exploration of the detrimental effects of hardening, mechanized work on the human psyche. These artists often draw upon their own personal experiences, work with marginalized communities, and/or incorporate their academic research in their artistic practice and advocacy. The Enduring Spirit of Labor features local and national artists working in a variety of media. Artists in the exhibition: David Bacon, Shawn Teseo Ballarin, Rachel Breen, Dan Bunn, Brenden Gerber, Maddy Grimmer, Teréz Iacovino, Anna Kaminski, Anna Meteyer, Maria Cristina Tavera, Xavier Tavera, and Nick Vlcek.

Sponsorship
Support for these events comes from the Department of Art, the Katherine E. Nash Gallery, the Human Rights Program, the Institute for Global Studies, and the University of Minnesota Libraries. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.