A soft place to land

Mueller Family Gallery, Cohen Family Gallery

moCa Cleveland

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• Date Friday, July 07, 2023 - Sunday, January 07, 2024
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Cleveland's Museum of Contemporary Art (moCa) is a dynamic cultural institution that constantly evolves in the city's cultural scene. As a non-collecting museum and the region's sole contemporary art museum, moCa regularly introduces new exhibitions, providing fresh experiences for visitors... more

A soft place to land highlights artists who use textiles to unpack personal histories and underscores the metaphorical and material importance of fiber arts in connecting these stories to broader cultural and societal narratives. Rooted in explorations of the physicality of memory, this exhibition demonstrates the ways that textiles function as, “containers of collective and individual memory, as devices capable of triggering emotional, psychological, and even physiological reactions, and as tools for expressing or retaining identity and narratives.”

The artists in this international, intergenerational exhibition build upon fibrous foundations to share the moments and traditions that shaped them, elevating what may be thought of as mundane or ubiquitous objects to emphasize the immeasurable value of one’s lived experiences. Themes of resilience, homesickness, and the desire to feel connected emerge within this examination of material culture.

The artwork in A soft place to land showcases the influence of place and placemaking on one’s identity, confronts intergenerational trauma and trauma associated with upbringing, and celebrates materiality as an essential tool in self-discovery.

Artists include:

Kevin Beasley, Margarita Cabrera, Pia Camil, Cass Davis, Alexandra Kehayoglou, Tiona Nekkia McClodden, Kaveri Raina, Liang Shaoji, and Marie Watt

Photo: Kaveri Raina, Lack Of; Lack Thereof; Continuous Search Of Doom, 2021. Acrylic, graphite, oil pastel, burlap, 60 × 48 in (152.4 × 121.9 cm). Collection of Hannah Gottlieb-Graham and Andrew Samuels.