UIS Visual Arts Gallery to present “Untied,” an experimental group exhibition

 The University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery is pleased to present “Untied,” an experimental exhibition and performance series that takes shape through the gradual contributions of five artists over a ten-week period.

The exhibition is structured to reach both a physical and remote audience. “Untied” will open on Thursday, Aug. 27 and runs through Friday, Oct. 30 in the Visual Arts Gallery, located in the UIS Health and Science Building, Room 201. There will be no public reception for this exhibition.

In consideration of social limitations and public health concerns presented by COVID-19, as well as a collective cultural call to question, undermine and upend longstanding intuitional frameworks, “Untied” works to give shape to an exhibition that is experimental in nature and that encourages uncertainty and builds upon it, in pursuit of intentionally unclear outcomes.

Anything that is untied is freed, loosened, or unfastened from something that was restricting it. This frames an exhibition in which recognizable boundaries are intentionally abandoned, and in which artists can pursue any direction with or without consideration to what comes before or after their contribution.

The exhibition launches with a single artist – but as additional artists arrive to contribute to the project with artworks and performances, the exhibition will undergo radical changes. Exhibiting artists will be free to determine how to work with, react to, or reconfigure what is already in place at the gallery, and the exhibition will build and transition as artists navigate what has come before them. Individual intentions will surrender to a collective outcome that remains to be seen.     

Participating artists include A.J. McClenon, alejandro t. acierto, Katherine Simóne Reynolds, Marina Peng and Ruby T. “Untied” is curated by Allison Lacher and Jeff Robinson. The exhibition can be experienced on-site and through documentation made available at the exhibition website untied.info. The site will be updated as the exhibition progresses. 

The Visual Arts Gallery will be open 12-5 p.m. Monday-Wednesday. Masks are required on the UIS campus.

For more information, visit the UIS Visual Arts Gallery website at uis.edu/visualarts/gallery or contact the gallery at 217-206-6506 or alach@uis.edu.