Austin Peay reopens ‘Spectacle’ exhibit with renewed examination of life with – and without – sports
(Posted July 28, 2020)
The New Gallery at Austin Peay State University, with support from The Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts and the Department of Art + Design, is pleased to reopen Spectacle to kick off the 2020-21 exhibition season.
Spectacle was closed early due to concerns about the spread COVID-19 back in March, but it has remained installed in The New Gallery. During this time of national shutdown and the cancellation of major sports leagues around the world, Spectacle, reopens to new conversations about the importance of sport and safety of large gatherings.
Though gallery hours will be limited this coming fall semester, The New Gallery will be open to visitors with limited occupancy and appropriate safety measures. Spectacle also will be available for viewing online via a 360º/4k VR video walk-through experience. In lieu of an in-person panel discussion with the exhibiting artists, a pre-recorded panel discussion will also be available online.
The exhibition will reopen to the public on Aug. 19 and run through Sept. 18. The virtual walk-through experience will be available indefinitely.
Before the exhibit opened last spring, Michael Dickins, curator and director of The New Gallery, described Spectacle this way: “Spectacle is an exhibition that combines basketball and visual culture. It’s a three-person show that features the work of Brandon Donahue, Vesna Pavlović and Chris Boyd Taylor.”
Dickins originally envisioned the exhibit to coincide with March Madness, “the distinctly American phenomena surrounding collegiate basketball” during which spectators are “inundated with capitalist-driven, basketball-related imagery.”
The pandemic led to the cancellation of March Madness and nearly all American sports, but they have started to trickle back this summer, delivering an entirely unprecedented experience, one in which spectators are removed from stadiums and arenas.
All events are free and open to the public.
To learn more
For more about the artists and their work, visit: www.brandonjaquezdonahue.com, www.vesnapavlovic.com and www.walkingcubes.com.
For more information about the exhibit, contact Dickins at dickinsm@apsu.edu.
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