Space is the Place

February 2 - April 13, 2008

Curators: Alex Baker and Toby Kamps
Presenting sponsor: Otto M. Budig, Jr.

Participating artists include: Laurie Anderson, Colette Gaiter, Lia Halloran, Ronald Jones, Nina Katchadourian, Oleg Kulik, Julian LaVerdiere, Aleksandra Mir, MIR Project, Damián Ortega, Marko Peljhan in collaboration with Pact Systems, Steve Roden, Jason Rogenes, Adam Ross, Katy Schimert, and Jane and Louise Wilson.

"When someone meditates on the infinte universe, something of grandeur is conferred on him or her, and he or she experiences an expansion of being." - French scientist and philosopher Gaston Bachelard

In a global moment preoccupied with terrestrial conflicts, why are so many artists fascinated by extraterrestrial subjects? Space Is the Place features an international selection of recent works on the theme of space exploration-its history, limitations, and potential. Certainly, the utopian promise of an intergalactic future promoted during the Cold War-era Space Race has not been realized. Today, however, the excitement and mystery of Star Trek's "final frontier" inspires contemporary artists around the world. Space research has advanced tremendously since the 1960s, but the challenges of technology, politics, and human nature have reshaped our conceptions of outer space. Space Is the Place reflects significant new attitudes toward the cosmos and a human role in it. The exhibition's paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations, and sound and video works depict outer space as a realm of infinite possibility, while they also reflect the dramatic social changes of the nearly fifty years since the launch of the Soviet Sputnik satellite.

The exhibition Space Is the Place is organized and circulated by iCI (Independent Curators International), New York.

The guest curators are Alex Baker and Toby Kamps.

The exhibition, tour, and catalogue are made possible, in part, by a grant from the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, with additional support from the iCI Exhibition Partners.