JOSEPH A HLADIK
ATHLETE, ARTIST, EDUCATOR
Connecting Figures
September 14 - January 12, 2020
A take on the surrealist game "exquisite corpse", this interactive installation invites visitors to assemble their own unique figures using a variety of interlocking felt pieces. Each body part shares a common connection detail and can be mixed and matched to create a limitless variety of figures, proportions, and body shapes.
This project encourages visitors to communicate their human experience by exploring gesture, representation, and abstraction. The platforms within the space act as miniature stages in which visitors are encouraged to position their figures. Figures can then be manipulated, altered, or even create interactive scenes with other forms.
This community art installation was inspired by the exhibition What Came After: Figurative Painting in Chicago 1978-1998 at the Elmhurst Art Museum.
Connecting Figures is a collaborative installation in partnership with TURF Designs and Joseph Hladik, Director of Education & Grants Administrator at Elmhurst Art Museum, and was partially funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art.