A statue of a faceless woman with her hands on her hips made of white material and whose head is a wreath of flowers. She is wearing a gigantic grass skirt much like the hoop skirts of the Victorian era.

Frying Pans and Metal Chains: Rethinking the Body in Contemporary Art

Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Gallery

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Spanning six decades, from 1964 to 2024, the exhibition Frying Pans and Metal Chains: Rethinking the Body in Contemporary Art traces the rich and varied ways in which artists engage with the body. Elevating commercial products to the status of art and adopting objects best suited for wardrobes, kitchens or stores—such as candies, fans, pantyhose, cooking pans, and gold chains, the artists in the exhibition reveal a shared interest in ordinary materials and motifs to celebrate and represent the female body, the black body and the laboring body.

Artworks by Senga Nengudi and David Hammons are informed by resistance movements and Black liberation activism, while Félix González-Torres mourns his beloved partner Ross Laycock lost to the AIDS epidemic. Narsiso Martínez focuses on belonging and rootedness and renders farmworkers and immigrant bodies visible, while Simone Leigh and Liliana Porter turn to the femme form to embody presence and self-assertion. As artists contest stereotypes and misrepresentation of bodies, they evoke intimacy and advocate for collective memory.

In their materiality, scale, or attention to human form, the artworks in the exhibition call upon viewers to envision new possibilities for relating to one another. At a time when Artificial Intelligence is being tested to communicate with humans, treat the U.S. loneliness crisis, and as we continue to grapple with its role in education or the workforce, the exhibition redirects attention to the body and its role in society.

The exhibition includes artworks by John Ahearn, Belkis Ayón, Rick Bartow, Frank Blazquez, T.C. Cannon, Alfred Conteh, Dr. Lakra, Félix González-Torres, David Hammons, Simone Leigh, Narsiso Martínez, Cirenaica Moreira, Senga Nengudi, Lilliam Nieves, Ritsuko Ozeki, Liliana Porter, Fritz Scholder, and Kay Walkingstick.

The exhibition is curated by Adriana Miramontes Olivas, Ph.D., Curator of Academic Programs and Latin American and Caribbean Art. The exhibition is organized in partnership with the Art Bridges Foundation.

Selected works in exhibition