Opening Reception | Carly Mandel: Premium
https://urbanglass.org/events/detail/carly-mandel-premium
Tuesday, September 7, 6-8 PM
*Please note, the reception will be a masked event regardless of vaccination status or local government policy.*
Curated by Kerry Doran.
For her solo exhibition at UrbanGlass, Carly Mandel presents new glass, ceramic, and metal sculptures that highlight the consumerist foundation of the healthcare industry in the United States. Through the staging of the installation, Mandel draws parallels between the interiors of medical facilities and retail spaces, especially those selling “wellness” products. The show’s title, Premium, speaks to the total retailization of medicalized life, in which survival literally comes at a premium. By carefully hand making otherwise mass-produced products, Mandel instills her personal narratives of physical therapy and disability into some of the objects that have shaped her life — all at a cost — such as massage devices, jump ropes, medical ID bracelets, and cough drops. Thus, Premium also reclaims disability as much as the trauma it can inflict when living in a fundamentally ableist society, one in which capital accumulation simultaneously produces and extracts from “sick” and “disabled” peoples.