ABOUT
DRESS
Everyday we get dressed. Our clothing communicates information about our work, activities and aspirations. Dress can be prescribed or intentionally personal. It can be practical, protecting our bodies from the weather or worksite; or fanciful, making a statement. We dress to provoke, to go unnoticed, to align with a social group, to conform (whether by choice or requirement), to challenge, to fit in, to be admired, to aspire, to protest, and to express identity.
How do you know what people do for a living, how recently they’ve come to this country, if they are tourists? We regard each other and make judgements about gender, class, work, lifestyle, social group, and cultural heritage based on appearance.
The artists participating in Art in Odd Places 2023: DRESS walk the runway that is 14th Street exploring all sides of the theme with projects examining clothing production and colonialism, fast fashion and waste, transformation and gender identity (and intolerance), cultural identity, work and labor, censorship, the passage of time and its traces, beauty, disability, status, armor, joy and grief.
Mission
Art in Odd Places aims to stretch the boundaries of communication in the public realm by presenting artworks in all disciplines outside the confines of traditional public space regulations. AiOP reminds us that public spaces function as the epicenter for diverse social interactions and the unfettered exchange of ideas.
History
Art in Odd Places (AiOP) began as an action by a group of artists led by Ed Woodham to encourage local participation in the Cultural Olympiad of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. In 2005, after moving back to New York City, he re imagined it as a response to the dwindling of public space and personal civil liberties – first in the Lower East Side and East Village, and since 2008, on 14th Street in Manhattan. AiOP has always been a grassroots project fueled by the goodwill and inventiveness of its participants.
People
Sarah Starpoli
Curatorial Manager
Michelle Leidecker
Volunteer Coordinator
Aga Sablinska
Press Manager
Thinkers in Residence
Yasmeen Abdallah
Diana Boros
Jonquil O'Reilly
Partners
Bureau of General Services – Queer Division is an independent, all-volunteer queer cultural center, bookstore, and event space hosted by The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City.
bgsqd.com
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (The Center) was established in 1983 at the height of the AIDS crisis to provide a safe and affirming place for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers to respond to the urgent threats facing the community. Over the past 40 years, The Center has grown to meet the changing needs of New York’s LGBTQ+ community, delivering services that empower people to lead healthy, successful lives.
gaycenter.org
Pollinate is a community-driven art platform connecting individuals to practiced artists and rich creative experiences. The platform utilizes digital technologies to engage communities unifying the artist and art lover. Both on and offline, Pollinate works to elevate the art experience, making it accessible to the new generation of collectors. In collaboration with AiOP, Pollinate captures the story of each performance and installation to help amplify the narrative to all audiences, regardless of physical boundaries.
pollinate.co
Support
Art in Odd Places is fiscally sponsored by GOH Productions led by Bonnie Stein, Executive Director, and supported in part by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with support of Governor Kathy Hochul, the New York State Legislature, and private donors.
Thanks
In no particular order, to: Richard Morales from NYC LGBTQ+ Center, Greg Newton and Donnie Jochum from Bureau of General Services-Queer Division, Price Stone of 14th Street Y, Peter Wallach from 14th Street Framing Gallery, Nam Le from Pollinate