The theme of space exploration—its infinite potential, as well as its historical successes and failures—is the focus of Space Is the Place, featuring installations, paintings, works on paper, and sound and video works made during the past ten years by an international group of contemporary artists. Space is a powerful catalyst for these artists, inspiring nostalgia and fantasy, as well as consideration of serious earthly concerns. The title of the exhibition derives from a 1974 movie about an influential jazz fusion band, whose leader, Sun Ra, spoke of making music sublime enough to elevate humanity beyond Earth, transcending reality.

Space Is the Place was curated by Alex Baker, senior curator of contemporary art at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, and Toby Kamps, senior curator at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. It is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue, co-published with Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, with essays by Baker, Kamps, and Svetlana Boym.

Laurie Anderson, Untitled, 2006

Exhibition Itinerary

Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield, Michigan
November 18, 2006 - January 14, 2007

Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, California
March 4 - May 27, 2007

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, Arizona
June 16 - September 2, 2007

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
October 20 - December 30, 2007

Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
February 2  - April 13, 2008

The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York
June 21 - September 7, 2008

AVAILABLE
October - November 2008