Absence/Presence: Contemporary Works in Dialogue explores the spaces between viewers and works of art, spaces that appear empty, but are filled with ideas, sensations, and emotions. These spaces are points of contact between viewers’ bodies and objects that we cannot touch but may be touched by; things we cannot feel that produce feelings. The idea for this exhibition arose from the curators’ shared interest in experiences of art that cannot be adequately translated into words, and the effect of the asymmetrical and unstable relationship between images, language, and embodied experience on our relationships to ourselves and with others.

The exhibition features works by Mike Bayne, Rebecca Belmore, Betty Goodwin, April Hickox, Jenny Holzer, Sophie Jodoin, Rachelle Viader Knowles, Barbara Kruger, Micah Lexier, Edward Pien and Michael Snow.

Curated by the students of Contemporary Art and Curatorial Practice in the Department of Art History & Art Conservation: Emma Doedens, Boris Eng, Katie Haas, Elizabeth Handley-Derry, Siobhan Handley-Derry, Maddy Huber, Eunice Kim, Parker O’Connor, Zoë Richards, Jillian Sanders, Katherine Walker, and Rui Jie Wang with Professor Jen Kennedy.

For more images and information about the works click here to download an interactive document for your mobile, desktop or iBooks platform.