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Hurford CenterExhibitions Program

Exhibits & Programs

do it (home)

Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist

In 1993, Hans Ulrich Obrist together with artists Christian Boltanski and Bertrand Lavier, conceived do it, an exhibition based entirely on artists’ instructions, which could be followed to create temporary art works for the duration of a show. do it has challenged traditional exhibition formats, questioned authorship, and championed art’s ability to exist beyond a single gallery space. Since do it began, many new versions have appeared, including do it (museum), do it (tv), and do it (in school). Over time, do it has grown from 12 to over 400 sets of artists’ instructions, and has been shown in more than 150 art spaces in over 15 countries.

As many around the world are experiencing social distancing and orders to stay at home, the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery is joining Independent Curators International (ICI) and over 30 art spaces around the world in sharing do it (home). A version of do it envisioned by Obrist in 1995, do it (home) assembles a set of artists instructions that can easily be realized in one’s own home.

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do it (home)
an epic ebony queen dominates a surreal landscape with her shrubbery afro, floating crown, and colorful garb

Eva Wŏ, Supreme Queen in Charge [with Icon Ebony Fierce, and costuming by Wit López], 2018. Digital collage for light box.

An Alarming Specificity

Featuring work by Shannon Finnegan, Chitra Ganesh, GenderFail, Yvette Granata, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Linda Stupart, and Eva Wŏ, An Alarming Specificity engages with human bodies which do not align with a fictional norm grounded in white patriarchal hegemony. Curated by Aubree Penney, the exhibition examines ways artists subvert the predominance of white, heterosexual, cis-male, non-disabled bodies as the default of humanity.

Though the physical exhibition and events have been cancelled to help limit the spread of COVID-19, the exhibition will continue its work of upholding individual bodies attempting to survive and thrive in a world which frequently neglects to support, protect, recognize, or heal them. Through its physical closure as an act of care which centers vulnerable bodies, as well as its online presence, An Alarming Specificity is about loving bodies and beings as they are, finding tactics for support. I can think of nothing that suits the project so much as these protective measures. In this interim space, the show still exists, albeit in a very different form. Sometimes care looks like distance. Check the website for forthcoming online elements of the exhibition, and in the spirit of the project, please be extra gentle with yourselves as we navigate this difficult moment.

—Aubree Penney, Curator

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An Alarming Specificity was conceived in collaboration with The John B. Hurford ’60 Center for the Arts and Humanities faculty seminar Borders and Boundaries led by Assistant Professor of Religion Molly Farneth and is curated by Aubree Penney. The exhibition is made possible with support from The John B. Hurford ’60 Center for the Arts and Humanities and the Haverford College Distinguished Visitors Program.