Locational Identity: Moving from Trauma to Freedom

On Monday, February 10, UIS Visual Arts Gallery Director Jeff Robinson, curator for the current exhibition ‘To Unmake a Fold,’ will moderate a panel discussion with exhibiting artists Mark Blanchard, Cass Davis, kwabena foli, and Kelly Kristin Jones. This is an ECCE Speaker Series event at UIS.

Through their artwork, these artists engage with place in order to clarify personal and collective identity, promote a sense of belonging, and spark agency and resistance against an alienation that results from attempts to erase difference and homogenize space. The conversation will center around each artist’s practice and how their artwork relates to these themes. The panel discussion will be followed by a question and answer session with the audience. This discussion coincides with ‘To Unmake a Fold,’ an exhibition of work from all four artists in the UIS Visual Arts Gallery.

The gallery will be open for a light closing reception following the ECCE Speaker Series event and will offer an opportunity to experience the artworks on display to supplement and enhance the conversation surrounding the ideas addressed by the panel.

Monday, February 10: 6:00 – 7:00 PM in Brookens Auditorium at UIS

This will be followed by the Closing Reception for the art exhibit ‘To Unmake a Fold’ from 7:00 – 8:00 PM in the UIS Visual Arts Gallery.

uis.edu/visualarts/gallery/