What if scenes of irruption are not merely places of disarray and fragmentation but instead are seen as sites of introspective artistic practices? 

There is a deeply human element presented through a window that suggests irruption. From regularities of a familiar scene to gut-turning uncertainty that slowly or suddenly emerges. A pulsing and non-coordinated upheaval was brought into view. From an evocative split or tear; a burst of life that viscerally disperses, turning into fragments, reminding us that all movement leaves behind traces. Irruption, gradual or sudden, unravels the temporality of the tragedy from scene to scene; moving across many lifeworlds from a throbbing opening to leaving behind relics of what transpired. Combining artistic introspective practices and personal experience, the poetics of irruption are playfully explored and reflected upon, seeking to reconfigure how we experience our worlds. 

When we encounter a performance of irruption, what do we bring to the ruptured and the fragmented? What lies within and beyond our own interpretations? 

Irruptions are portals explores sobering musings on the poetic nature of irruptions.  Moving between painting/print and sculpture, the selected artists endeavor to complicate and disrupt the seamless knowability of our human expression, gesturing toward the fondest notions of disturbance and reconfiguration. By presenting visual discontinuities in color and layering and utilizing reassemblage using fragmented materials,  the selected artists probe into the undertones of irruption, seeking impossible stories. Visitors examine the contemplative disposition thrumming in the room that beckons new possibilities for understanding ourselves and our humanity.

Constance S. & Robert J. Hennessy Project Space

Participating Artists: Bary Birm, Sarah Canfield, Susan Casey, Andrew Conti, Kit Donnelly, Pia De Girolamo

Curated by Mai Eltahir and Alex Conner