>7

Curatorial Statement

I have met several larger-bodied artists over the past couple of years and found a common thread in discussions about contemporary art: the lack of positive representation of fat bodies by fat bodies. Often times, we are referred to Rubenesque works and Benefits Supervisor Sleeping by Lucian Freud for historical influences. In the 1990's, Jenny Saville broke ground with her paintings of obese figures.

As important as these references are, they are few and do not apply to a lot of contemporary artists. LGBTQ+, people of color, and fat voices are getting louder and coming more to the forefront. The power behind these movements keep gaining momentum and breaking boundaries- not just in the art world, but in everyday life.

The fight against homophobia, transphobia, queerphobia, racism, and fatphobia continues to catch the attention of generations who are learning that it is acceptable to claim and be proud of who one is.

I have decided to gather my fellow contemporary fat artists who make work about the fat experience and curate a show to aid in fat-positive representation. The included artists are Ansley Adams, Jillian Marie Browning, Ren Buchness, Angel Carlin, Brittney Cathey-Adams, Chantel Clausen, Tore Hallas, Matias Herrera, André Terrel Jackson, Amanda Kleinhans (myself), Shona McAndrew, Shoog McDaniel, Néstor Daniel Pérez Molière, Sam Noel, Nubian, Zoë Schneider, Andrew Leo Stansbury, and Allison Tunis. These artists are from various parts of the United States, Canada. UK, and Denmark.

>7 is a group exhibition of fat artists making work about the fat body and fat experience. The collection of artists feature works with interdisciplinary approaches including drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, film, sculpture, video, textiles, and performance. The presence of fat subjects in art works and absence of fat artists in the Art World was the major push in the thematic selection. During research, I read that the average body has enough fat to produce seven bars of soap. >7 refers to

the exhibition having more than seven artists, more than seven disciplines, and all participating artists having more fat in their bodies than it takes to produce seven bars. In this exhibition, the viewer will see works from marginalized bodies that are bringing their voices to the forefront of contemporary conversations surrounding fat bodies.

The Gallery

Fat Film Festival

The Works