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Curated by Leeza Meksin and Tamar Ettun
Body’s First Architecture considers the primary and fundamental nature of textiles as the body's first dwelling. Taking its premise from Ann Hamilton’s interview in which she says “Textiles are the body's first house, the body's first architecture."1 This statement alludes both to textile’s relationship to the domestic as well as to the nomadic. There is something about the nature of textile that lends itself for travel — it can be packed small, transported relatively easily, made with modest resources while growing expansive and commanding space. For this exhibition, Ettun and Meksin, selected multiple large scale works, which fluidly interact with the unique and historical architecture of the Ely Center. Several of the works are site-specific or site-responsive, hanging in staircases, windows or visually joining the first and second floors.
Full exhibition statement here ︎︎︎
Text by Leeza Meksin
Included artists:
Anindita Dutta, Ann Hamilton, Florencia Escudero, Hannah Woo, Leeza Meksin, LoVid, Michelle Segre, Molly Zuckerman-Hartung, Rachel Hayes, Rose Nestler, Sheila Pepe, Sheilah ReStack, Sopheak Sam, Suzanne Mcclelland & Alix Pearlstein, TAITAI xTina, Tamar Ettun, and Tsedaye Makonnen.
06.29.25-08.24.25
Group exhibition at Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
Credit
Installation views, Body’s First Architecture, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, Connecticut, 2025. Photo by Peter Brown.
Footnotes
Exhibition title borrowed from interview with Ann Hamilton and Krista Tippett in On Being,
https://onbeing.org/programs/ann-hamilton-making-and-the-spaces-we-share/
Checklist of artwork included in the exhibition
ទង់ក្របើ (Never Let Me Go), 2025. Screenprint on nylon, sheer fabric, metallic thread, wooden dowels, dyed yarn, 36" x 180"
ជាតិក្រោយបានមានរូបថ្មី (Afterlives and Afterimages), 2025. Projected video (color, silent; 2hr 3min 11sec) appropriated from YouTube channel Sok Somnang “Buddha History Part 4” on mosquito net, 87" x 71" x 87"
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Body’s First Architecture
Curated by Leeza Meksin and Tamar Ettun
Body’s First Architecture considers the primary and fundamental nature of textiles as the body's first dwelling. Taking its premise from Ann Hamilton’s interview in which she says “Textiles are the body's first house, the body's first architecture."1 This statement alludes both to textile’s relationship to the domestic as well as to the nomadic. There is something about the nature of textile that lends itself for travel — it can be packed small, transported relatively easily, made with modest resources while growing expansive and commanding space. For this exhibition, Ettun and Meksin, selected multiple large scale works, which fluidly interact with the unique and historical architecture of the Ely Center. Several of the works are site-specific or site-responsive, hanging in staircases, windows or visually joining the first and second floors.
Full exhibition statement here ︎︎︎
Text by Leeza Meksin
Included artists:
Anindita Dutta, Ann Hamilton, Florencia Escudero, Hannah Woo, Leeza Meksin, LoVid, Michelle Segre, Molly Zuckerman-Hartung, Rachel Hayes, Rose Nestler, Sheila Pepe, Sheilah ReStack, Sopheak Sam, Suzanne Mcclelland & Alix Pearlstein, TAITAI xTina, Tamar Ettun, and Tsedaye Makonnen.
06.29.25-08.24.25
Group exhibition at Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
Credit
Installation views, Body’s First Architecture, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, Connecticut, 2025. Photo by Peter Brown.
Footnotes
Exhibition title borrowed from interview with Ann Hamilton and Krista Tippett in On Being,
https://onbeing.org/programs/ann-hamilton-making-and-the-spaces-we-share/
Checklist of artwork included in the exhibition
ទង់ក្របើ (Never Let Me Go), 2025. Screenprint on nylon, sheer fabric, metallic thread, wooden dowels, dyed yarn, 36" x 180"
ជាតិក្រោយបានមានរូបថ្មី (Afterlives and Afterimages), 2025. Projected video (color, silent; 2hr 3min 11sec) appropriated from YouTube channel Sok Somnang “Buddha History Part 4” on mosquito net, 87" x 71" x 87"
Left and center: Works by Sopheak Sam (saffron-colored hanging textile and video projection on mosquito net); center-bottom: Tamar Ettun (inflatable sculpture); center-right: Ann Hamilton (two-channel screens); right: Florencia Escudero (sculpture on pedestal).
Left: TAITAI xTina; right: Anindita Dutta
Left: Florencia Escudero
Right: Ann Hamilton
Center: Ann Hamilton; right: Florencia Escudero
