VSA arts’ International New Media Exhibition Debuts at the Kennedy Center

May 21, 2007

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2007 – VSA arts announces Renascence 07, an international juried exhibition of new media by artists with disabilities, which will be on display at the Terrace Gallery of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts from June 1-28.

“Renascence 07 is the first new media exhibition viewed through the lens of disability,” said Soula Antoniou, president of VSA arts. “New media is a medium that allows artists to represent their unique perspectives and personal experiences.”

VSA arts enlisted a panel of distinguished jurors to identify artists with disabilities who combine visual art and technology to convey personal experience in innovative ways. Featured in this exhibition are installations, net.art, video, and interactive sculpture, such as Lihua Lei’s 40-foot installation, Phantom Pain. Transparent, butterfly-like wings float over glass casts of the artist’s own legs. Lei, who has polio, invites the viewer to reflect upon the vulnerabilities and transformations of the body. Kurt Weston’s digital video Paper Doll illustrates the full repertoire of visual-assist devices that Weston uses on a daily basis. In contrast, Hans Bernard’s Psych| OS cycle uses video, photography, and a blog to depict the artist’s life with a mental disability.

Renascence 07 includes the work of Mary Behr of Hoboken, N.J.; Hans Bernhard of Vienna, Austria; Clovis Blackwell of Pasadena, Calif.; Ju Gosling of London; Lihua Lei of Solon, Maine; Leon Lim of New York; Chas de Swiet of London; and Kurt Weston of Huntington Beach, Calif.

The jury includes Dave Everitt of Leicestershire, United Kingdom; Byeong Sam Jeon of Irvine, Calif.; Patrick Lichty of Chicago; Marisa Olson of Brooklyn, New York; and Bill Shannon of Brooklyn, New York.

As part of the Renascence 07 exhibition, Mark Tribe, founder of Rhizome.org, an online platform for the global new media art community, will lead a panel discussion featuring three of the participating artists – Clovis Blackwell, Lihua Lei, and Leon Lim – at the at the Kennedy Center’s North Atrium Foyer located near the Terrace Gallery beginning at 5 p.m. on June 9. The opening reception for the exhibition follows the panel discussion.

The Renascence 07 exhibition is on display as part of the VSA arts’ Start with the Arts Family Festival held in June at multiple venues across the city, including the Kennedy Center, Farragut Square, and Union Station.

For more information, please visit http://www.vsarts.org/renascence.

VSA arts is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1974 by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith to create a society where people with disabilities learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts. VSA arts provides educators, parents, and artists with resources and the tools to support arts programming in schools and communities.

VSA arts showcases the accomplishments of artists with disabilities and promotes increased access to the arts for people with disabilities. Each year millions of people participate in VSA arts programs through a nationwide network of affiliates and in more than 60 countries around the world. VSA arts is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. For more information visit www.vsarts.org.

Media Contact:
Stephanie Taylor/VSA arts
(202) 628-2800 ext. 3883
SKTaylor@vsarts.org