An Active and urgENT telling

February 11–March 17, 2021
Schaefer Art Gallery at Gustavus Adolphus College

Supported by the Johnson Endowment for the Arts, Artist Series
Reception & Virtual Lecture:
Wednesday, February 17, 5–6PM

Organized by Strange Fire Collective (SFC), An Active and Urgent Telling features the work of six contemporary artists working with photography to honor the weight of lived experience through an intersectional lens. Stemming from SFC’s mission, this exhibition centers artists for whom questions of identity deeply affect their relationship to representation. The work included engages with ideas of visibility and invisibility, the reality of lives that exist outside of, or in opposition to, expected and enforced social norms, and the social and political power of speaking one’s truth. Each artist contributes nuance to a redefinition of the commonly understood fabric of difference through an active and urgent telling of their own lived experiences.

Original, in-depth interviews with each exhibiting artist will be posted on our website during the exhibition to illuminate a more thoughtful understanding of the artists and their work.

Exhibiting artists include Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Penny Molesso, Rachelle Mozman Solano, Irene Antonia Diane Reece, and Chanell Stone.

Photos by Will Clark


Video walkthrough of exhibition

Panel discussion with exhibition artists and Strange Fire co-curators.