Opening Reception: Resistance Training

Exhibition and events offer a bolstering sense of community in the midst of a tumultuous political era.

On the eve of the inauguration, and into the first days of a new regime, Resistance Training, a presentation of recent a new artwork and activism, provides a needed opportunity to gather aesthetic and artist community forces and brace for what comes next. Organized by curator Glen Helfand, the exhibition focuses on aesthetic gestures that offer models of resistance to negative shifts and ideas for action, be they poetic, ideological, or forceful protest. The location on the Mills College campus offers the opportunity to create a space for gathering that draws upon intellectual resources and dialogs.

In the realm of fitness, the term resistance training refers to exercising muscles using an opposing force. The official transition of power to a game changing new U.S. president, which occurs on January 20, is a large, heavyweight force to oppose with the purpose of becoming stronger. Various communities, artists and activists, are banding together in dialogue and creative action to engage strategies for survival in what promises to be a challenging period.

The exhibition will include artworks, actions, and demos of strategies for survival. Artists include Luke Butler, Ana Teresa Fernandez, Sarah Hotchkiss, Omar Mismar, Melissa Wyman, Rachel Weidinger, Andrea Bowers, Alex Molinari, and others. Resistance Training also will include Post Fax, a faxing campaign targeting office workers, interns, and others with pertinent messages sent through a form more tactile, and perhaps urgent, than social media; and be an affiliated venue for 100 Days, an artist-organized calendar featuring one daily artistic response to Trump’s first 100 days in office.


January 18 - February 10, 2017
Opening Reception: Wednesday, January 18, 6-8 pm