Molly Joyce: Perspective

Exhibition run: Friday, March 3 — Saturday, April 22, 2023

Exhibition opening: March 3, 6:00-8:00pm CST

Conversation with Molly Joyce and Andy Slater: March 3, 7:00-7:30pm CST

A film still from Perspective comprised of white text on a black background. At the top of the still is the question, “What is interdependence for you?” At the bottom of the still is the response, “The most foundational part of existing for me.”

Molly Joyce, Perspective still, courtesy of Molly Joyce

A photograph of Perspective projected onto a darkened gallery wall while audience members experience the work. At the top of the projection is the question, “What is connection for you?” and at the bottom is the response, “you know enduring ableism.”

Installation shot of Perspective at The Great Northern Festival, 2022, photo by Jayme Halbritter.

Curb Appeal is pleased to announce our inaugural exhibition and the Chicago debut of Molly Joyce’s Perspective. Begun in 2019, Perspective is a sound and video work that captures perspectives of the disability experience. Created through interviewing over 40 participants around topics that encompass elements of disability—including care, interdependence, weakness, and cure—Joyce has composed and performed a work that invites audiences to consider the kaleidoscopic and nuanced experiences that inform what it means to be disabled. Recently released as a feature-length album with New Amsterdam Records, Pitchfork described Perspective as “a powerful work of love and empathy that underscores the poison of ableism in American culture.” Created with disability aesthetics and accommodations in mind, Perspective features open-captioned videos, lending a sense of visual primacy to the stories of the disabled participants and their valuable perspectives. In addition to screening Perspective, Curb Appeal is delighted to host a brief conversation between Joyce and one of the project interviewees, Chicago artist Andy Slater (from 7:00-7:30pm CST).

Molly Joyce is a composer and musician whose work is primarily concerned with disability as a creative source. She has an impaired left hand from a previous car accident, and seeks to explore disability through composition, performance, collaboration, community engagement, and further mediums. Joyce’s primary vehicle for exploring disability and creativity—in performance, composition, and artistic collaborations—is her electric vintage toy organ, an instrument she bought on eBay that suits her body and engages her disability on a compositional and performative level. Deemed one of the “most versatile, prolific and intriguing composers working under the vast new-music dome” by The Washington Post, Joyce has released two full-length albums, Perspective (2022) and Breaking and Entering (2020), both with New Amsterdam Records. Joyce attended The Juilliard School, the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, and Yale School of Music and holds an Advanced Certificate and Master of Arts in Disability Studies from CUNY School of Professional Studies and is an alumnus of the National YoungArts Foundation. She is currently a Dean’s Doctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia, focusing on Composition and Computer Technologies.

To preview the videos in Perspective, please visit https://www.mollyjoyce.com/projects/perspective.

Accessibility: Curb Appeal is wheelchair accessible. In addition to open captioning on the video work, we will provide ASL interpretation and CART-captioning for remarks and a brief conversation between Molly Joyce and Andy Slater. Masks are required for entry and will be provided if needed. Please note, Curb Appeal is an apartment gallery and doubles as a home to our gallery dog. Accommodations for Molly Joyce: Perspective were funded through the generous support of Bodies of Work, a consortium of disability art and culture in Chicago.

Image description, from left to right: A film still from Perspective comprised of white text on a black background. At the top of the still is the question, “What is interdependence for you?” At the bottom of the still is the response, “The most foundational part of existing for me.” At right: A photograph of Perspective projected onto a darkened gallery wall while audience members experience the work. At the top of the projection is the question, “What is connection for you?” and at the bottom is the response, “you know enduring ableism.” 

Press release available here: Molly Joyce Press Release_2023.pdf