"His-ter'-ee-uh"

His-ter'-ee-uh:  Opening  Fri.  Mar 8,  6-9pm 

Juried by artist Olive Stefanski

Note!  This exhibition is at ARC's new location: 1463 W Chicago Ave   

This exhibition addresses structural sexism—in particular, women’s emotional realities, and how that emotional reality plays out in a national atmosphere of distrust about women’s stories, women’s rationality and women’s anger.His-ter’-ee-uh: from the Greek word “hystera”, or womb—an organ that was thought to migrate erratically through a woman’s abdomen, searching for “fragrant smells”, much like “an animal within an animal”. (Aretaeus, Greek physician, 2nd century AD)While the uterus has become more sedentary over the intervening years, it nevertheless continued to be blamed for women’s irrationality and emotional distress. In the 19th century, a time marked by both physical constraints (corsets) and psychological restrictions (confinement to womanly activities), widespread concerns about female hysteria resulted in numerous cures for misbehaving wombs. A popular treatment for hysteria at the time was clitoral stimulation administered by one’s physician.Today, in the inevitable backlash to the “MeToo” moment, women once again are distrusted, disdained (and sometimes diagnosed) for an emotionality that threatens the status quo. Women’s bodies continue to be the ground around which much of the conflict revolves. Strangely enough (as we saw in recent Supreme Court hearings) some of the hysteria around these events now seems to also emanate from men, which suggests the need for a new metaphor to explain the cause of women’s rage.Exhibiting Artists:Heather BennettMeghan ChaseJeanne CiravoloShelby DillonAbby FriendNolan KeohaneHelen LeeLily Martina LeeBrandon LowerySusan McMillenAshley MillerSophia MoreauKathia Muniz-RiosChelsea NaderSamantha Lynn PearsonJess PodrazaCheri Reif-NaselliGina RobbinsAbby SchnureGretchen SchreiberJoan SiemWei WeitingLauren WoodsShihui Zhou

Opening Reception, Friday, March 8, 6:00-9:00

• Exhibition dates: Mar 6-Mar 30, 2019 
• Gallery hours: Wed to Sat 12-6 pm, and Sun. 12-4 pm