“Gender Riot”, Curated by Sheila Pepe, The Vermont College of Fine Arts

Curatorial Statement, Sheila Pepe

We all work from our own subject position and thus, reveal -intentionally or not– what we know, how we think, and what we see in the world. We all share the condition of gender in a society that demands a clear expression from each individual. In this context many of us intentionally make work that addresses our experience of gender, both as an embodied, subject/self, as well as one acting in, and formed by enculturation.

As a white lesbian feminist who came-out during the era of the "androgynous dyke,"(1981) I am lastingly aware of the complexities of gender as we have lived them during the late 20th century and as they have progressed into the 21st. As a student of "difference" I am also alert to the added factors of race, able-ness and age have come to the fore since the early 2000s. I have lived mindful of what we now call "intersectionality."

Gender as a condition/construction is shared by all humans, and so the work of all who address gender should be considered. As such, this exhibition should prove a powerful common ground for the VCFA community.

Gender Riot Artists:

Todd Bartel
Heidi Blunt
Kim Darling
Feral Fagiola
Angela Grossmann
Amy Jenkins
Vincent Kral
Kayla Leach
Dannell MacIlwraith
A_Marcel
C. Marquez
Anastaci Pacella
Andrea Ray
Marcy Rosenblat