Iron bars recast as glass with sonic reverberations. Concrete walls made porous by precisely cut holes. A building disappearing into clouds, piece by piece. In Compositions, Chicago-based artist Maria Gaspar’s first solo exhibition on the West Coast, artworks are acts of alchemy. And video footage and debris salvaged from the demolition of a wing of the Cook County Department of Corrections, the largest single-site jail in the United States, becomes the material with which to build a liberated world.
Compositions features newly commissioned and existing works from the award-winning artist. From public actions, sound broadcasts, sculptures, paintings, to videos, for more than a decade Gaspar has explored the role of art within the collective struggle against the United States carceral system. The exhibition is organized as part of Visualizing Abolition, an arts-based initiative that reaches across prison borders to contribute to the unfolding collective story and alternative imagining underway to create a future free of prisons.
ADMISSION
- Free and open to the public
- Ongoing exhibition: September 26, 2023 – March 3, 2024
- Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 12-5 p.m. Closed Mondays and holidays. Please visit ias.ucsc.edu/visit/ for more information.
PARKING
- Free parking is available at the Institute of Arts and Sciences Galleries.
- Accessible parking on High Rd.