Jun 9th 2017

Doors 6:30pm, Program 7–9pm

Featured films by Ester Alegria, Kai Green and Derrick Woods-Morrow programmed by Aymar Jean Christian; and Rashayla Marie Brown, Danielle Dean, Suné Woods and Cauleen Smith programmed by Anna Martine Whitehead.


Join us at the Arts Incubator for the Film Program for the exhibition The Petty Biennial, presented by curators La Keisha N. Leek and Sadie Woods, Arts + Public Life’s Inaugural Curatorial Collective. Featured films by Ester Alegria, Kai Green, Derrick Woods-Morrow, Rashayla Marie Brown, Danielle Dean, Suné Woods, and Cauleen Smith will be programmed by Aymar Jean Christian and Anna Martine Whitehead. The program is sponsored by the University of Chicago’s Film Studies Center and Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry, and Black Cinema House.

Open TV Presents- programmed by Aymar Jean Christian
Kai Green, Triggers, 2017
Ester Alegria, ambivert, 2017
Derrick Woods-Morrow, Untitled, 2017

Another Spelling of Her Name – programmed by Anna Martine Whitehead
Cauleen Smith, I Want to See My Skirt, 2006
Suné Woods, Falling to get here, 2017
Danielle Dean, A Portrait of True Red, 2016
Rashayla Marie Brown, Reality Is Not Good Enough, 2017

A conversation with the filmmakers and programmers to follow the screening.


Exhibition Runs May 19 – Jun 23, 2017
Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday 10am–6pm
Saturday – Sunday 12–4pm
Tours available on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays by appointment only.

“The Petty Biennial” is an exhibition project that complicates dominant narratives of contemporary cultural, social, political norms. It is a response to classist views towards communities of color and marginalized art practices. At the intersection of race, gender and sexuality, featured artists showcase a range of regional and national perspectives unique to North and Central Americas, and the Caribbean. “The Petty Biennial” is not a biennial itself, but a curatorial investigation towards queering the canon of traditional biennials. The project selected seventeen artists for its exhibition and an additional nine artists for ancillary programming. Works include video, painting, installation, performance and photography engaging in critical forms of authorship through hypervisibility and self-representation.

Exhibiting and Programmed Artists include: Indira Allegra, Ester Alegria, Elizabeth Axtman, Bella Bahhs, Rashayla Marie Brown, Aymar Jean Christian Sofía Córdova, Danielle Dean, Kevin Demery, Alicia Everett, Ricardo Gamboa, Stephanie Graham, Kai M. Green, Brandon Markell Holmes, NIC Kay, Maya Mackrandilal, Yvette Mayorga, Nikki Patin, Oli Rodriguez, Arif Smith, Cauleen Smith, twinskin, Darryl Terrell, Marcela Torres, Anna Martine Whitehead, Brittney Leeanne Williams, Derrick Woods-Morrow, and Suné Woods.

A special thanks to “The Petty Biennial” Advisory Committee: Dana Bassett, Development Director, ACRE and Contributor, Bad at Sports; Aymar Jean Christian, Assistant Professor of Communications, Northwestern University and Founder, OPEN TV; Erin Christovale, Co-Curator, Black Radical Imagination and Co-Curator for Made in L.A. 2018, Hammer Museum; James T. Green, Podcast Producer, MTV; Sabrina Greig, Independent Curator and Writer, External Affairs Manager, Chicago Urban League; Danielle Andrea Jackson, Mellon Interdisciplinary Fellow in Performing Arts, Walker Art Center; JGV/WAR, Independent Curatorial Collective; Ross Jordan, Curatorial Manager, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum; Kristen Kaza, Principal and Creative Director, No Small Plans Productions; Ciera McKissick, Founder, AMFM; Coya Paz, Artistic Director of Free Street Theater; Fabiola Ramirez, Independent Event and Project Management Consultant. Additional thanks to: Israel Pate, Curatorial Assistant; Tyran Freeman and Omari Ferrell, Gallery Assistants.

Logo conceptualized by James T. Green and Ciera McKissick


This exhibition is wheelchair accessible. Persons with disabilities who need an accommodation in order to participate in these events should contact Arts + Public Life for assistance at 773.702.9724 or artsandpubliclife@uchicago.edu

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