November 17, 2018 -January 12, 2019

Wave Pool Gallery was proud to present ‘Invisible Labor,’ an exhibition that investigated and celebrated the work of local art preparatory crews, curated by Maria Seda-Reeder.

Art made by artists and placed within the hallowed halls of museums and galleries are often bolstered both physically and metaphorically by the work of those whose job requires them to go unseen and unacknowledged. When done well exhibition installation is invisible and seemingly effortless, yet those who do this kind of preparatory work are often artists themselves.

For this show, Wave Pool proposed the chance for local art handlers and preparatory crews from six area arts institutions to put on an exhibition that aims to make visible the labor and practice of building, installing, and creating art exhibitions. Crews from The Carnegie Performing Arts Center, The Cincinnati Art Museum, The Contemporary Arts Center, Taft Museum, 21c Museum/Hotel and The Weston Art Gallery showcased the efforts of their installation crews and fabricators, whose own artistically driven processes allow the work of more well-known artists to live inside the white cube. By highlighting the invisible labor of those working the back of the house in our area arts organizations, we seek to underscore the efforts of those whose work is often left out of the artistic canon.

With every exhibition at Wave Pool, we aim to look beyond the ephemeral fluctuations of the art market and use our space on behalf of those who are doing the ongoing, daily work of bringing art to the masses. This exhibition showcased the effort and care happening behind the scenes at the biggest and best arts organizations that our region has to offer. These professionals rarely, if ever, get their names on gallery walls or other visible signs of recognition for their work. Yet without their own artistic practices, expertise, and skill sets, the inner-workings of Cincinnati’s visual art scene would cease to exist.

As part of the exhibition Wave Pool hosted Pro tips of Art Installation Round Table with Calendar Signing with local art preparators January 5, 1-2pm.

Funding for this exhibition was provided through an ArtSTART award from the Ohio Arts Council