The title of this exhibition, IN A DREAM YOU SAW A WAY TO SURVIVE AND YOU WERE FULL OF JOY, comes from a work by the prominent feminist artist Jenny Holzer. This evocative phrase tells a story of possibility and implies critical questions that have guided our thinking around the artworks gathered for this project: Who, under what conditions, must struggle to survive? What does survival look like for individuals and communities? And, how might the tools of our imaginations help us to find joy and collectively reshape the conditions of our society?

With works by eight female artists—Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, Adriana Corral, Ellie Ga, Juliana Huxtable, Tala Madani, Danielle Mckinney, Wendy Red Star, and Clare Rojas, along with engagements by Jenny Holzer—this exhibition grapples with a range of critical issues facing our society today. As Holzer’s phrase suggests, the featured artists both acknowledge societal inequities and envision pathways toward a new and better future. Confronting identity and history in ways informed by feminism and other political thought, their works evaluate systems that suppress and exclude those whose lives are not privileged within the dominant patriarchal power structure.

Dreams can offer sources of inspiration motivating us to change the circumstances of our lives. Similarly, storytelling and other approaches to narrative forms offer ways of examining and affecting reality. Employing these strategies of imagination, the artworks in this exhibition offer refuge from systems of oppression and present vital perspectives that may help us to unsettle those systems. Reflecting on the social and historical conditions underpinning our ways of being in the world, the featured artists inspire us to tell new stories about who we are and what is possible for each of us. In this, they invite us to imagine more equitable, joyful futures.

IN A DREAM YOU SAW A WAY TO SURVIVE AND YOU WERE FULL OF JOY is curated by Robin K. Williams, Curator, with Julie Le, Assistant Curator, The Contemporary Austin.

EN UN SUEÑO VISTE UN MODO DE SOBREVIVIR Y TE LLENASTE DE ALEGRÍA

El título de esta exposición, IN A DREAM YOU SAW A WAY TO SURVIVE AND YOU WERE FULL OF JOY (EN UN SUEÑO VISTE UN MODO DE SOBREVIVIR Y TE LLENASTE DE ALEGRÍA), surge de una obra de la destacada artista feminista Jenny Holzer. Esta frase evocadora cuenta la historia de lo posible y plantea interrogantes clave que han guiado nuestro pensamiento en torno a las obras aquí expuestas: ¿quiénes, y en qué condiciones, tienen que luchar por sobrevivir? ¿En qué consiste la supervivencia para las personas y las comunidades? Y ¿de qué manera las herramientas de nuestra imaginación podrían ayudarnos a encontrar la alegría y a remodelar las condiciones de nuestra sociedad de forma colectiva?