April 13 – 23
Reception: Rescheduled for Saturday, April 18, 5-8pm
Location: Commonwealth Gallery, 100 S Baldwin St, 3rd Fl, Madison, WI, Open everyday 9am-9pm
Oracle, a disability-centered exhibition, holds wisdom of the ill body in foam, glass, and video. The works range from inspection of disabled bodies, bodies under surveillance and dissection, to the figurative sculpture that holds and honors disabled people as oracles themselves. A Disabled Oracle is a person regarded as an infallible authority or guide on disability, including disabled wisdom from the past, present, and future. This is coined by Alice Wong, Jen White-Johnson, and Aimi Hamraie. The space acknowledges the harm of medicalized trauma and the historical understanding of disability as only a problem, but pushes toward a new revelation of disabled knowledge, ancestry, power, and divination. This new crip wisdom is seen in the figurative sculpture in foam titled Who’s Ideal (Whose Ideal)? (2026). Crip Wisdom is the embodied knowledge of disability community and disabled people, coined by Sins Invalid. Foam becomes a dominate material throughout the exhibition because of the deep connection I have to it. I view it as a contemporary material that is distinctly disabled and chronically ill as it often covers surfaces and cradles my body: in bed, in shoes, on chairs, nearly everything I utilize daily. Throughout this exhibition’s creation, I ruminated on the words of the disabled ancestor that recently passed, Alice Wong, who said: “My body you call broken, I call an oracle.”
The Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibitions season continues with Carly “Car” Riegger’s exhibition Oracle. The MFA Thesis Exhibitions mark the culmination of a three-year degree program that emphasizes development of a rigorous studio art practice under the supervision of a faculty guidance committee. Exploring an interdisciplinary approach to art making, as well as coursework in art history and related fields, artists cultivate professional practices that facilitate a sustainable career in the arts. Join us in celebrating our Class of 2026 UW-Madison Graduate professionals!