Disrupt And Resist : A Love Letter To The Disability Community On What Showing Up For Each Other Can Be

January 22 - March 1, 2024 @ Gillespie Gallery of Art
GMU Art and Design Building, Fairfax

Curated by Jen White Johnson, Jeffrey Kenney, and Alissa Maru

DISRUPT AND RESIST features 12 contemporary designers and artists engaging in disability advocacy through creative resistance and anti-ableist disruption. This exhibition amplifies the ways disabled artists show up for themselves and each other. Shining a light on the joy and struggles of their lived experience, the diverse community of creative activists represented here explore and communicate the necessity for accessibility, disability justice, radical joy, belonging, and inclusivity. The show is a means to advocate for access-centered protest, the dismantling of the desire for a non-disabled body, while honoring and celebrating the unique beauty of each individual and the diversity and complexity of the minds and bodies that enrich our world.

This exhibition brings together a beautiful cohort of disabled or neurodivergent creators and allies who disrupt the narrative of disability through a wide range of approaches to material and subject matter, featuring an array of media and objects including video, photography, sculpture, printmaking, graphic design, fashion, and sound design. The artists represented here occupy diverse intersectional identities and engage in practices centered on disability activism, expression, and education. They use their creative capacities to foreground awareness and community building in addressing important issues, including destigmatizing medical conditions both physical and mental; highlighting the need for inclusive and accessible institutional practices and spaces; creating visibility for marginalized communities and non-conforming bodies; and centering empathy and joy in the discussions of our differences.