WYOMISSING, Pa. — The Penn State Berks Freyberger Gallery will present a multimedia art installation titled “When it starts, we will let the host know you are waiting” by Philadelphia-based artist Alicia Link. The installation addresses inequity through the visual language of the gynecologist’s office and waiting room. It will run from Wednesday, April 19, to Saturday, May 13, with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 27. The event is free and open to the public and light refreshments will be served.
According to the artist, “This ‘everyday’ space illustrates the often subtle violence of inequity enacted upon certain bodies.”
In summer 2022, Link was experiencing a medical issue which resulted in her going to three different medical institutions — all of which she felt were impersonal and highlighted subtle hostility and inequity towards femme, gender nonconforming, and transgender bodies in the U.S. through the guise of providing protection and care. Since then, the artist has been ruminating on the true vulnerability of a body processed by a profession wherein care and comfort are necessary but housed in a space absent of those qualities.
In the gallery, attendees will view tactile sculptures, ink drawings, and media work related to estranged anatomies of the waiting room of gynecologists’ offices. Daily objects, including hysteroscopy curtains quilted with hermetically sealed artifacts, a line of anthropomorphic chairs enveloping the remnants of patients past — a watch, an insurance card, and worn magazines, are reinvented to fit the theme of the exhibit. Additionally, an isolated billing department, represented by a phone permanently off its hook, will stand alone in the gallery.
This exhibition is made possible with the support of the Dr. Ruth M. Freyberger Endowment for the Arts.
The exhibition will be open from noon to 5 p.m., Monday to Thursday and Saturday. Visitors attending the gallery from May 6 to 13 will need to schedule an appointment. For more information, contact Kevin Brophy, Freyberger Gallery coordinator, at 610-396-6024 or kbb5676@psu@edu.
About the Artist
Alicia Link is an artist and educator whose multidisciplinary work uses the concept and form of collage to piece together material and information addressing systems of power, the body, and the invisibility of trauma. She holds a bachelor of fine arts in painting from Boston University and a master of fine arts in studio art from the University of Texas at Austin. Link has participated in residencies at Tiger Strikes Asteroid in Philadelphia and Vermont Studio Center, where she was a residency fellowship recipient. She has exhibited at galleries and arts centers across the U.S. She currently teaches at Moore College of Art & Design and at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University.