People’s Biennial
Curated by Harrell Fletcher and Jens Hoffmann
For this exhibition, five art institutions in the United States will present a biennial of contemporary art consisting of works by five artists in each of the institutions’ local communities, selected by the show’s guest curators, Harrell Fletcher and Jens Hoffmann. The institutions must be in locations that lie outside mainstream art centers, but in places where art nonetheless thrives. Five appropriate, geographically widespread institutions will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis. The curators will visit each community to choose artists and works, and will be available to conduct round-table discussions at each institution during their stay.
People’s Biennial is a response to several critical issues within the often-isolated world of art. Prominent among these is the fact that many biennial exhibitions in the United States focus primarily on art from just a few cities, usually New York and Los Angeles and sometimes Chicago, Miami, and San Francisco. An even larger problem is the art world’s ever increasing exclusivity, which has turned the spaces where art is produced and exhibited into privileged havens detached from the ordinary realities of everyday life. A critique of the often overly spectacular biennial model is also a key aspect of this exhibition. In contrast, People’s Biennial will display significant contemporary work originating from often overlooked locales by artists who have not had significant exposure, thus offering a potential model for more community-based and even grassroots exhibitions.
Interested institutions should contact iCI to request the details of criteria for participation. People’s Biennial is curated by Harrell Fletcher, an artist based in Portland, Oregon, and Jens Hoffmann, director of the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts in San Francisco.
Veda Epling, Veda’s Bibles (Psalms), 2006; representative of the kind of work curators might select for People’s Biennial
Additional Images
Michael Patterson-Carver, Waiting for Obama, 2008
People's Biennial Blog
Visit the blog HERE
Touring Schedule
Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery, Haverford College
Haverford, Pennsylvania
January 27, 2012 - March 2, 2012
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Scottsdale, Arizona
October 15, 2011 - January 15, 2012
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
July 8, 2011 - September 18, 2011
Dahl Arts Center
Rapid City, South Dakota
January 14, 2011 - March 27, 2011
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art
Portland, Oregon
September 10, 2010 - November 21, 2010
Related Events
People’s Biennial Curators Visit: Haverford
Haverford College
370 Lancaster Avenue
Haverford, PA
June 29, 2010
People’s Biennial Curators Visit: Winston-Salem
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art
750 Marguerite Drive
Winston-Salem, NC
May 20, 2010
People’s Biennial Curators Visit: Rapid City
Dahl Arts Center
713 7th Street
Rapid City, SD
April 8, 2010
People’s Biennial Curators Visit: Scottsdale
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
7380 E. Second St.
Scottsdale, Arizona
February 23, 2010
People’s Biennial Curators Visit: Portland
The Cleaners at the Ace Hotel
403 SW 10th Ave
Portland, Oregon
4 pm
February 6, 2010
ICI Goes West to Portland
The Lumber Room
Portland, Oregon
November 20, 2009
Technical Specs
