Airhead

Laura Bernstein, Gabo Camnitzer, Anton van Dalen, Jef Geys, Elizabeth King, Alison Knowles, Montez Press Radio, Pepón Osorio, Adam Putnam, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Shellyne Rodriguez, Douglas Ross, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Timmy Simonds, Franz Erhard Walther P·P·O·W is pleased to present Airhead, a group show pulling together a distinct selection of artists who move between worlds of teaching and artmaking. While their practices as artists have influenced how they teach, their experiences teaching have also influenced their work. Some are “teachers,” defined by institutions, and some not. The works in the exhibition raise questions about our cultural understanding of the character of “the teacher,” our expectations of what it is they do, and our presumptions of what education should be. These works do not lecture. They do not solve problems, nor provide a path to answers. They do not dictate morals. They are not pedagogical in the sense of Froebel’s “gifts” or Montessori’s sensorial letter cards. These works are catalysts of possibility. Yet, they are also images of what happens to a thing when it creates possibilities for others. They speak unresolvedly about authority, martyrdom, visibility and invisibility, voice, influence, agency, role play, navigation, connecting worlds, and the human attempt to empathize. Coinciding with the show is a program of exercises, teach-ins, and performances called Faculty Meetings, part of an ongoing teacher-focused project organized by Timmy Simonds. The program unfolds throughout the duration of the exhibition and includes both artists participating in the exhibition such as Alison Knowles, Shellyne Rodriguez, Franz Erhard Walther, and Douglas Ross as well as other artists and collaborative projects such as No School, Alejandro De La Guerra & EspIRA, Gaby Collins-Fernandez, Bethany Ides, Stephen Kwok, Holly Adams, Ethan Philbrick & Prem Krishnamurthy, and the Young Filmmaker’s Foundation & Jessica Gordon-Burroughs.