The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMOCA) has been selected for a significant grant award from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts that will support DARK MATTER, a fall 2022 exhibition of work by UW–Madison’s Faisal Abdu’Allah.
Abdu’Allah, an internationally acclaimed artist and professor with the School of Education’s Art Department, is the Chazen Family Distinguished Chair in Art and the associate dean of the arts in the School of Education.
DARK MATTER, opening Sept. 17, 2022, explores cultural representation and the systems of power that structure our experiences of the world.
The exhibition includes a selection of Abdu’Allah’s most celebrated series, as well as a reconstruction of his work, “Garden of Eden” (2003), an architectural installation the artist created in collaboration with renowned architect Sir David Adjaye. Exploring issues of privilege, exclusion, and the voyeuristic gaze, this interactive piece separates visitors based on genetic traits — in this case, eye color — in order to undermine our perceptions of difference and alienation. With “Garden of Eden,” Abdu’Allah points to the privileges conferred to certain people based on the nuances of their genetic matter.