SexEd: Chapter 1 at AAI’s Cuchifritos Gallery is the first of a series of exhibitions by Liz Slagus & Norene Leddy, to be hosted in several different venues. These exhibitions will serve as platforms for knowledge-sharing and community participation in the building of a comprehensive and collaborative, artist-inspired sex education curriculum.
This exhibition is a launch pad for SexEd, with a call for community participation via a YouTube video call, which invites the public to become part of this project through the submission of videos that answer the question, “What do you wish someone taught or told you about sex?“ Meant to inspire a sense of community and information exchange around the topic of sex, the YouwishyouwouldhaveknownTube project is an open call for a collective response to the aforementioned challenge.
The exhibition features:
3 commissioned artists’ videos responding to the call:
– Rebecca Herman and Mark Shoffner
– Johana Moscoso
– Karen B. K. Chan
A repository for the growing collection of self-produced sex education lessons
Community-based public programming that will facilitate new video-making and sexual health awareness
Information-exchange about SexEd’s various projects and future residency program
SexEd is an ongoing quest to expose the current state of sexual education in the US, encourage a public discourse around the topics of sexual health and education, and develop a sex education curriculum that is artist-inspired and community-based—something currently not in existence in the United States.
Curators:
Liz Slagus is the Director of Public Programs for the NY Hall of Science, a part-time adjunct faculty member of Parsons-The New School, and founder/co-curator of the SexEd Project. Liz conceived of SexEd armed with 10+ years working with artists/art collectives and youth enrolled in the NYC public school system, and a growing sadness over the huge gap between the sexual health education she received growing up in the public schools of NJ in the 80s, and the current curriculum. She holds a BA in Art History and Anthropology from Bucknell University and an MA in Visual Arts Administration from NYU.
Norene Leddy’s artwork examines how technology is used in relationship to marginalized populations. Projects include working with sex workers, inner-city girls, LGBTQ youth, and others to explore ways that high and low technology can be used for protection and self expression, from the latest in GPS and mobile software to simple DIY kits. Norene is a co-curator of SexEd. She will participate in the project as both a curator involved with public programming and in select venues as an exhibiting artist, developing her artistic practice involving sexual health issues and participatory tools. Norene earned her B.F.A. from Boston University in 1994 and a M.F.A. from Parsons The New School for Design in 2000, where she is now a Part-time Assistant Professor. In 2008, she started an ongoing curatorial collaboration with Liz Slagus. She is online at www.nobetty.net.
Cuchifritos is FREE to the public and handicap accessible. Located inside Essex Street Market at the south end nearest Delancey.
Cuchifritos Gallery & Project Space is a program of Artists Alliance Inc, a 501c3 not for profit organization located on the Lower East Side of New York City within the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center. Cuchifritos is supported in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. This program is made possible by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. We thank the following for their generous support: Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York City Economic Development Corporation and individual supporters of Artists Alliance Inc. Special thanks go to our team of dedicated volunteers, without whom this program would not be possible.