Member News

Michelle Wilson
Aftermath

November 2-November 25, 2007
Opening reception Friday
November 2, 5pm-9pm

Powel House Museum
244 S. 3rd Street
Philadelphia, PA
215.627.0364

What if the liberty we believe we know is only a 
shadow of true freedom?

Landmarks Contemporary Projects is pleased to present Aftermath,
an important new project by artist Michelle Wilson. Aftermath will
be on view from November 2-25, 2007 at the Powel House Museum,
244 South 3rd Street in Philadelphia. A free public reception with the
artist will be held at the museum on Friday, November 2nd, from 6-9pm.


Behind the scenes of modern American comfort is a complex web of
influence and deferred responsibility. Aftermath is a multi-media
installation in which Wilson challenges viewers to consider the
unseen consequences of the choices we make as a society,
as well as the choices made for us by our government.

Inspired by the ideas of Plato's Cave, as well as
alchemical theoriesof fire as a purifier, Wilson
tries to find a way to see clearly in a world
confounded by mass misinformation and misdirection.
Aftermath exposes the ashes we have collectively
brushed under the rug. Do you
burn what you fear, or what you hate?
Or are they the same thing?

Artist Michelle Wilson recently lived in the Powel House Museum
for two years as Site Manager/Caretaker. Aftermath is heavily
informed by her time in this historically significant site,
which gave her a strong appreciation of the relationship
between social responsibility and the ideals of our
Founding Fathers. While living at the Powel House,
the environment of historical interpretation challenged
Wilson to view contemporary society with new eyes.
The Iraq war, the degradation of the environment,
imprisonment without trial, genocide in the
Sudan--she couldn't help but wonder how we arrived in
this situation as a nation. Through prints, installation,
projections and sound, Wilson will attempt to break
through this mask of comfort. The Powel House--as a
center of the political and social milieu surrounding
the birth of our Constitution--is an ideal, if poignant
site for this experiment. The Powel House represents
the best of our Revolutionary past and philosophy.
It is a contextualizing environment for the idea
that we live in a time where there is much debate about
some of the political and philosophical ideals put forth in
the Constitution: from wiretapping, to detention without
access to lawyers, to freedom of speech.

Wilson's work has been part of exhibitions at the
Phillips Museum, the National Constitution Center,
the Nasu International Biennial of Contemporary
Art in Japan, and the Second International Biennial
for the Artists' Book, in Alexandria, Egypt. Wilson is
former President of the Philadelphia Women's Caucus for Art,
and holds an MFA from the University of the Arts.
To find out more about Wilson's work, visit her blog,
Rocinante Press, or see more of her work on Inliquid.com

As with all art exhibitions, the views reflected in
the content of the project are those of the artist,
and not necessarily those of Landmarks or its supporters.
Landmarks supports open dialogue, free speech and vigorous debate.