Exhibition on view: Saturday, May 7 – Sunday, June 12, 2022

Closing Reception: Saturday, June 11 • 2 – 4 p.m. • More info HERE!

The last two years have seen a hypervigilance around the simple act of breathing. Our breath is simultaneously a dangerous vehicle through which the virus is passed, a coping strategy to alleviate stress, and a tool for healing lung function for those who’ve had Covid-19. Given all that we’ve been through, it’s time for a monumental, collective exhale.

Exhale: A Multisensory Art Experience brings together seven artists working across a variety of media: audio, sculpture, paintings, drawings, video, animated sequences, and interactive media. This multisensory exhibition builds on the group’s 2021 show, Digital Breath, at the Newport Art Museum that explored what happens when an unknown variable completely disrupts the patterns of your life and necessitates living more of your existence through the digital realm.

For part two of the exhibition, curator and participating artist Brian C. O’Malley posed the following questions: “A year later we still find ourselves in a global pandemic, with variants arising and receding like ocean tides. Have we been holding our breath, waiting? Are we ready to release this quivering pocket of air?”

He is joined at SVAC by Sophia Ainslie (MA), Steven Subotnick (RI), Lauren Mantecón (NM), Daniel O’Neill (RI), Joseph Fortune (RI), and John DeVault (RI). These artists have created an immersive, multisensory experience in the Wilson Museum that aims to engage the viewer in the present moment. Or, as artist Laurie Anderson once put it: “To live in the gap between the moment that is expiring and the one that is arising.”

Image: Brian O’Malley, A Billion Light Years Away

Joe Fortune, audio clip:

John DeVault, video clip:

Steven Subotnick, video clip: