The Corrections

curated by Sam Fein


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  • On view at
    The Foundry: Point Gallery, 2nd floor 101 Rogers St, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA 
    May 20 - June 30, 2023
    Opening: Sat, May 20, 16:00

    Online: 
    starting May 20, 2023

Arlis Mroczek, Belle Lopes, Sam Fein
The Troubled Teen Industry (TTI) is a multibillion dollar industry claiming to modify the socially undesirable behavior of adolescents. The "delinquent" behavior used to justify TTI placement (ie "promiscuity", "losing temper", "sexual confusion") reflects our country?s legacy of institutionalizing female bodies for subverting traditional gender expectations. Although widespread abuse and death within TTI programs have been reported for decades, the industry remains largely unknown to the public and almost entirely unregulated. It is only recently, through survivor-led action, that the world is starting to pay attention.

The Corrections presents a group of female artists who are TTI survivors-turned-activists. Through painting, digital media, installation, and personal ephemera such as journals and letters, these artists draw upon their first-hand experiences to expose the inner workings of this shadowy industry. Viewed collectively they share overarching themes: community dislocation, identity erasure, and the struggle to reintegrate in normative society after a period of prolonged captivity.

The Corrections confronts our centuries-old legacy of weaponizing social constructions of abnormality to hold female bodies captive and "correct" their behavior. Viewers are faced with uncomfortable truths about society?s ongoing use of surveillance, confinement, and forced removal. The exhibition is a form of activism, empowering survivors to resist the institutions designed to silence them. It is also a celebration of their resiliency and dedication to fight this carceral system.
 
Sam Fein is a Boston-based artist, educator, and community organizer. Her work explores social frameworks of power, asking us to reconsider who "deserves" removal from civil society. She has completed artist residencies at MASS MoCA, an Access to Power fellowship, and was a Fulbright Scholar to the Philippines. She received her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and her BA from Sarah Lawrence College.



Installation Images

apexart’s program supporters past and present include the National Endowment for the Arts, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, the Kettering Family Foundation, the Buhl Foundation, The Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Spencer Brownstone, the Kenneth A. Cowin Foundation, Epstein Teicher Philanthropies, The Greenwich Collection Ltd., William Talbott Hillman Foundation/Affirmation Arts Fund, the Fifth Floor Foundation, the Consulate General of Israel in New York, The Puffin Foundation, the Trust for Mutual Understanding, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and administered by LMCC, funds from NYSCA Electronic Media/Film in Partnership with Wave Farm: Media Arts Assistance Fund, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, as well as the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.