Seven Films Explore Bodily & Societal Restrictions in Online Exhibition
“Hell is a Place on Earth. Heaven is a Place in Your Head” is presented by P.P.O.W. Gallery.
In light of the widespread coronavirus pandemic, New York City’s P.P.O.W. Gallery is launching an online exhibition, titled “Hell is a Place on Earth. Heaven is a Place in Your Head,” featuring films by David Wojnarowicz, Carolee Schneemann, Carlos Motta, Hunter Reynolds, Guadalupe Maravilla, and Suzanne Treister. As society grapples with the changes to daily life resulting from COVID-19, these films challenge restrictions placed upon each artist and express their unique views on spiritual, physiological and sexual freedom.
As one of the most incisive American artists of the ’80s and ’90s, Wojnarowicz uses painting, performance and more to draw attention to civil rights and gay identity within popular culture. While Treister uses new media to examine unconventional bodies, Schneemann activates the female nude to understand social bodies in relation to visual traditions and taboos. Motta’s multidisciplinary practice documents the struggles of post-colonial subjects, whereas Maravilla acknowledges the historical and contemporary contexts of immigrant culture. Across these seven films, visitors are able to transcend culture’s traditional structures and conventions.
Watch the films from “Hell is a Place on Earth. Heaven is a Place in Your Head” now on P.P.O.W.’s website. The online exhibition will run until April 25.
In other news, BYT is curating a selection of videos on Vimeo as part of an ongoing project called “Crew Love.”
