516 ARTS in Albuquerque is the exclusive New Mexico host of the national traveling exhibition called Trappings: Stories of Women, Power, and Clothing, created by Two Girls Working, the collaboration by artists Tiffany Ludwig and Renee Piechocki. The exhibition tour, funded in part by a grant from the New Mexico Humanities Council, is in conjunction with the release of their book of the same title. Their artwork Trappings begins by asking women to respond to the question: what do you wear that makes you feel powerful? Two Girls Working have interviewed over 530 women in fifteen states. Through its multiple parts Trappings ignites conversations about the meaning and expression of power. The exhibition includes: a two-floor installation at 516 ARTS and a public art project on bus panels on the downtown D-Ride buses and on banners along Central Avenue.
To expand the exhibition beyond the gallery and into the community, Two Girls Working developed a public art project combining portraits and interviews for the public buses. Each of the three downtown D-Ride buses will include photographs and an audio component. The artists use a voicemail system that offers an audio work to accompany each print, allowing bus riders to dial a phone number from their cell phones to actually hear each woman telling her story. Visitors ride the free D-Ride buses and walk along Central Avenue downtown to take in the full exhibition.
Many women from New Mexico are included in this project, including thirty women who recently participated in interview sessions hosted by the Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, the Rio Grande Community Development Center, the South Valley Economic Development Center, and the Zuni Indian Reservation.
The public is invited to join in the discussion of the Trappings project question and its many implications with guest artists Two Girls Working, local scholars, and participants on Saturday, June 14, at 2:00 p.m. One simple question can elicit a response as widely divergent as the backgrounds, attitudes and social mores of those participating in, or simply viewing, the project. Trappings presents images and oral histories that describe the range and diversity of background, identity and attitude among women. Scholars on the panel include Kathy Freise (Ph.D in American Studies, freelance writer) and Linda B. Hall (Ph.D in Contemporary Latin American History, currently writing the biography Dolores del Rio: Icon of Beauty in Two Cultures).
Traveling exhibition is on view from June 13 through August 16, 2008 at 516 ARTS in downtown Albuquerque. For more information, please visit www.twogirlsworking.com or contact Suzanne Sbarge at (505) 242-1445.