Do You Want to Sleepover?

Antoinette Viola and Rebecca Griffith
April 13 – 27, 2024

Opening Reception
Saturday, April 13, 1 – 5 p.m.

Purple Window Gallery is located inside MANA Contemporary Chicago, at 2233 S. Throop St. Room 845, Chicago, IL 60608. The entrance is on the East side of the building. It is accessible by the #21 #60 and #9 buses, or by walking from the Cermak-Chinatown Red Line stop. Gallery hours by appointment.

_______________________________________________

Antoinette Viola

Antoinette Viola explores the infinite and indefinable world of femininity. Through photographs of saturated domestic arrangements, female portraiture, and collaged materials, Viola investigates how females are raised and navigate their constructed worlds. Vibrant scenes invite viewers into the enchanting world of girl play but leave a lingering distaste. This artificial sweetness intertwines nostalgic cache with the current social and political climate pertaining to females today. Viola’s work wryly questions the gender performances, power structures, and pleasure paradoxes projected onto women.

Antoinette Viola earned her Bachelor’s in Art Education from Illinois State University and her Master’s in Fine Art from Northern Illinois University. Viola has exhibited at Gallery 215 (DeKalb), Zhuo B Art Center (Chicago), Backspace Gallery (DeKalb), ARC Gallery (Chicago), Filter Photo (Chicago), Lorenzo de Medici University in Florence, Italy, and Glow Studio (Chicago).

Rebecca Griffith

My work examines the process of caregiving for a parent’s chronic disease and coping from a young age to adulthood. I recall a time in my life when my mother was not diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and was independently running a video store in the early 1990s. I use the VHS cassette to address how we process information and memory, by creating collages and videos from materials and items of my childhood.

I cut the magnetic tape and reassembled the film using clear adhesive tape. By disrupting the film sequence, I create a new narrative about myself and my mother. Selecting a film for Do You Want to Sleepover?, was as challenging as selecting one perfect movie from the massive wall of VHS tapes in my basement growing up. Jawbreaker (1999) was released when I was in third grade. I watched this film idolizing the brightly dressed Rose Mcgowen and Judy Greer, among my collection of Barbie Dolls and Treasure Trolls. Teaching my younger self about cliques, sexuality, toxicity, and friendships as I was beginning to grow from childhood to teenhood.

Rebecca Griffith is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and manager of Purple Window Gallery. Her curatorial practice is centered around community outreach and public initiatives that democratize the artworld and create a sense of belonging. Griffith spearheaded the mail art initiative Hello USPS which connected over sixty participants across the United States during the 2020 lockdown. Griffith’s curation style is a generative practice, one that facilitates interactions of co-creation through participant interplay. She has curated exhibitions at Purple Window Gallery, Northern Illinois University, The Record Department, and BackSpace Gallery.

Griffith has exhibited at the University of Oople (Poland), Unpacked Mobile Gallery (Chicago), Women Made Gallery (Chicago), Heaven Gallery (Chicago), Terrain Exhibitions (Illinois), and Ann Arbor Art Center (Michigan) among other midwest galleries and cultural institutions. Griffith was awarded first place in the emerging artist exhibition at Cleve Carney Art Gallery in 2018. She was the 2018 curator for Northern Illinois University’s President’s Office. Under her leadership as President of the Graduate Arts Association at Northern Illinois University (2016 – 2018), Griffith helped fund a week-long trip to New York City that fostered community among graduate members. Griffith earned her B.S.Ed. from Northern Illinois University in 2013 and her M.F.A. from Northern Illinois University in 2018. Griffith is currently an educator at Northern Illinois University.

Official Website

More events on this date

Tags: Antoinette Viola, Chicago, Do You Want to Sleepover?, Lower West Side, PURPLE WINDOW, Rebecca Griffith