Suspended State

Co-curated with Judy Ditner, Jen Mergel, Shariann Michael, Jenny Moore, and Simone Subal. Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. February 1 - 15, 2004

Artists: Robert Longo, Gregory Crewdson, Janine Antoni, Giovanni Anselmo, Robert Morris, Mona Hatoum, Peter Campus, Eric Fischl and Aida Ruilova.

This MA student-curated exhibition presents works by twelve artists from the Marieluise Hessel Collection. It offers a curatorial reading that examines moments suspended in time, identifying resonant narrative threads, psychological qualities, and physical attributes. The works capture a pregnant moment—immanent, yet offering no immediate release.

The selected pieces evoke a sense of risk or mystery, freezing time and space while simultaneously opening to reveal something new. They engage the viewer in a tension between anticipation and uncertainty, drawing attention to the unresolved and the unknown.

Through these juxtapositions, the exhibition explores core feelings of the human condition: anxiety, curiosity, vulnerability, strangeness, and wonder. It asks: How does suspension intensify emotional resonance? How do artists shape these moments to guide the viewer’s experience? Each work relies on the temporal, psychological, and physical perception of the audience, anticipating responses that complete and amplify the encounter.