Curated by Rachel Adams

APRIL 22 – JULY 30, 2017 -- Organized by the UNIVERSITY OF BUFFALO ART GALLERIES

The Language of Objects is a three-person exhibition featuring artists Matthew Craven, Brendan Fernandes, and Alyssa Pheobus Mumtaz. On view at the UB Anderson Gallery from April 22 through July 30, 2017, this exhibition showcases artists who appropriate cultural objects in their practice. Referencing the Cravens World Collection—a collection of archaeological and ethnographic objects from around the world dating as far back as 4,500 BC on view in the Cravens open storage room—each of the three artists work across geographic borders and in a variety of mediums. The artists create pathways that add to the history of the objects they select. Each artist is working with a collection of objects, and enlist them in the gallery space to construct new narratives. Philosopher Theodor Adorno argued that museums and mausoleums were within the same realm and that objects, once inside a museum, are removed from the flow of culture where new connections can be established. The artists in this exhibition dissuade this theory by continuing to spotlight new narratives through the varied connections with cultural objects and diverse artistic processes.