Woman Made Gallery CFA: Word of Mouth (Food + feminism)

Woman Made Gallery seeks submissions for our January- February 2022 group exhibition juried by Rosalyn D'Mello (international art critic, feminist writer, columnist, and recent evaluator for the Andy Warhol Foundation Art Writers Grant). 

This exhibition will be held at Woman Made Gallery located at 2150 S. Canalport Ave., Chicago, IL 60608 in the Pilsen neighborhood. 

EXHIBITION DESCRIPTION

For the upcoming Jan/Feb 2022 exhibition Word of Mouth, Woman Made Gallery seeks artwork exploring food through an intersectional feminist lens across mediums. It asks artists to subvert socially conditioned, gendered conceptions of a kitchen, an ingredient, a worm, or even a plate.

"The kinky tactility of that which is edible, materially or intangibly, spiritually or secularly is our pursuit. It forms the fibrous conceptual core of this exhibition. We seek that which evangelizes or is informed by orality, by sensory interventions that are performative and exploratory, inconclusive yet holistic; that which relates to tongue or lingual papillae, that which is linked to the irrepressible, bound by the fluid interstices between resonance, laughter, and/or rage; that which relates to dimensions of hunger and satiation, gluttony and greed, miracles and grief, that which connotes the alterity of word-made-flesh-made-text-made-loaf…

Imagine the sound a knife makes as it sluices the petticoats of onions; the void in the pit of a freshly de-seeded cherry; the earthiness of organic fertilizer; the rapture of an almond tree full-blossomed in spring; the gospel according to a caterpillar, or a bee." - Rosalyn D'Mello

The juror is particularly, though not exclusively, interested in investigating the following conceptual questions for "Word of Mouth":

• If we are what we eat what nourishes our collective soul? 
• How does your garden grow? How does the squirmy earthworm embody hope? 
• How to advance queer table fellowship? 
• What makes a particular orifice a mouth? 
• How do we salvage leftover joys? 
• How do you undo a pomegranate without the application of a knife? Can you cut a pineapple underwater? 
• How does the gut relate to emotion? How do you ferment old wine?

Woman Made Gallery seeks artwork in all mediums. We encourage intersectional feminist approaches that include consideration of sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, and disability, among other social locations.

ABOUT THE JUROR

Rosalyn D’Mello (she/her) is a feminist writer, art critic, columnist, essayist, editor and researcher. She is the author of A Handbook for My Lover. She writes a weekly feminist column for mid-day, a fortnightly one on contemporary art for STIR, and regularly contributes to OPEN. Rosalyn was an evaluator for the Andy Warhol Foundation Art Writers Grant in 2020 and is an Ocean Fellowship Mentor for 2021. 

She is presently working on a book for Oxford University Press based on her visits to South Asian artists’ studios, thanks to an India Foundation for the Arts research grant. Her freelance writing has been internationally published and anthologized.  Her art criticism has appeared in publications like Tate etc, Art Review, Art Review Asia, Artsy, Vogue, Firstpost, The Hindu, and Mint Lounge, among numerous others.

SUBMISSION FEE
The submission fee for Word of Mouth is $30. Only one submission may be entered per artist. Each submission requires one artwork, though up to three artworks may be considered per submission. Paid submission does not guarantee an exhibition opportunity. No refunds offered.

Members at the Enhanced Artist Level and above receive one free entry annually. Please email general@womanmade.org to receive your one-time code for free entry redemption.

WMG offers fee waivers to those that request the need and upon approved application. WMG offers 25 fee waivers in total. To acknowledge the historic inequities of wealth distribution, 15 of the 25 are exclusively reserved for ALAANA/BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+. Factors that result in an approved application include financial instability or low income status, student or recent graduate status, identification as ALAANA/BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+, or a demonstrated need otherwise. WMG accepts Fee Waiver Request forms on a rolling basis until all fee waivers have been distributed. A note declaring all fee waivers have been distributed will be added to the Submission form at that time. (That is, if you are reading this, the form is active, and there are still fee waivers available!) The team at WMG will approve and send a Submittal fee waived link within 4 days of application receipt.  

To request a fee waiver -- complete this form.

ELIGIBILITY
Woman Made Gallery is a space for women and nonbinary artists, including trans women and femme/feminine-identifying genderqueer artists. We welcome art from women and non-binary artists from our local community, regionally based, and around the world.

Due to limited staff and wall-size restrictions, artworks must fall within 6’ horizontally and under 75 pounds in weight, unless delivered to and picked up from our 4th-floor gallery by the artist. Artists may be additionally responsible for the installation of oversized works.

New media artworks are eligible. To be considered, artists must submit a sample .mp4 or url under 10mins for purposes of consideration. For the exhibition, WMG requires a digital transfer (Google Drive, Vimeo downloads, WeTransfer) as well as a USB formatted in .mp4 file format delivered to the gallery. WMG can provide a limited number of media players, Epson projectors, and TV monitors with basic speakers. All other new media needs are the responsibility of the artist.

ART SALES
Accepted work may be listed for sale, though is not required. WMG will retain a 40% commission on sold works. Work remains the property of the artist until sold. Sold artworks shall remain in the exhibition until the end of the exhibition. Artists will be paid no later than 30 days after the close of the exhibit.

TERMS OF EXHIBITION
An artist contract with full terms of the exhibition will be administered at the time of acceptance notification. Please note that the shipping/delivery to and from the gallery is the responsibility of the artist including all associated fees. If work is not picked up from the exhibition by the date noted in the artist contract, the work will become the property of Woman Made Gallery and subject to donation to WMG's fundraising efforts, or otherwise discarded. WMG is happy to talk through preparations, offer advice, and recommend resources as requested.