New Image Gallery at JMU

Part 1: Sept. 15 – Oct. 10

Your Body is Beautiful Always
by Cass L. Rinsler

Opening Sept. 15, 5–7 p.m.

These portraits by Cass L. Rinsler are from the series, "Your Body Is Beautiful Always", where subjects are photographed in moments of relaxation, simple comfort, and intimacy. The artist shares these photographs as a record of queer, trans and cis human beings in moments of vulnerability and likewise, trust, as they traverse space and time in bodies that can feel like complex flesh prisons. The film sprocket outlines and numbering on the image edges give evidence that film and analog camera processes were used rather than digital. This requires tactile handling of the photographic materials, slows down the interaction between the photographer and photographed, and suggests a more permanent and tangible record. While here shown in the setting of a gallery space, the portraits at times become billboard-size installations that take the intimate and private conversations about our bodies into the public realm.   

“It's difficult to put into words because of my place as a white woman, but I am hoping to focus on people outside the realm of the normative; larger bodies, queer bodies, trans bodies, female bodies, and male dysphoria around body ideals. I want to address some of the ways we all suffer and struggle while also making space for the people who feel invisible most often.”

Part 2: Oct. 16- Nov. 14

Remnants; the spaces between
an installation and performance by Cass L. Rinsler & Talia Tamar as Tactile Movement

Opening with the artists Nov. 3, 5-7 p.m.

Talia Tamar and Cass L Rinsler are multidisciplinary artists working to bring honest, raw, impactful artworks into the public realm. They work with shared and individual experiences surrounding the body to create a space for discussing topics in intimacy, harm, and community. 

Pato Hebert Exhibition & Gallery Talk

SADAH sponsored a gallery talk on March 22 for Pato Hebert's exhibition, Lingering, on virtual display at the Arts Council of the Valley during the month of April.

Hebert was a JMU Visiting Scholar in Spring 2019 and a Cultural Connections Artist-in-Residence in Spring 2020. This exhibition was to be in tandem with his on-campus visit last year, but it was postponed due to Covid.

Read Pato Hebert's bio and artist statement for Lingering