Opening Reception: Sunday June 29, 1-3pm

Curator talk with Tamar Ettun and Leeza Meksin: 2pm

The Ely Center for Contemporary Art is thrilled to present Body’s First Architecture, a group show curated by the artists Tamar Ettun and Leeza Meksin, exploring the various ways in which fabric and clothing are being employed by contemporary artists foregrounding the body's needs for healing and care. The exhibition features works by Anindita Dutta, Ann Hamilton, Florencia Escudero, Hannah Woo, Leeza Meksin, LoVid, Michelle Segre, Molly Zuckerman-Hartung, Rachel Hayes, Rose Nestler, Sheila Pepe, Sheilah ReStack, Sopheak Sam, Suzanne Mcclelland & Alix Pearlstein, TAITAI xTina, Tamar Ettun, and Tsedaye Makonnen.

Body’s First Architecture considers the primary and fundamental nature of textiles as the body's first dwelling. Taking its premise from Ann Hamilton’s interview in which she says “Textiles are the body's first house, the body's first architecture."* This statement alludes both to textile’s relationship to the domestic as well as to the nomadic. There is something about the nature of textile that lends itself for travel — it can be packed small, transported relatively easily, made with modest resources while growing expansive and commanding space. For this exhibition, Ettun and Meksin selected multiple large scale works which fluidly interact with the unique and historical architecture of the Ely Center. Several of the works are site-specific or site-responsive, hanging in staircases, windows or visually joining the first and second floors.