Door Depot International

curated by Secret Committee

Lease Agreement at MdW Assembly
Mana Contemporary
2233 S. Throop St.
Chicago, IL
www.mdwfair.com
www.leaseagreementgallery.com

September 9 - 11, 2022

The artists, choreographers, musicians, and writers included in this exhibition are: Ruth Burke, Johan Chang, Masa Kudo, Jinglin Liao, Muriel Louveau (with Mei Yamamaka and Emily Pope), Migrating Pedagogies, Kensaku Shinohara, Tetiana Sklyarova, and Mei Yamanaka & Misuzu Hara

This exhibition explores doors as an extended metaphor: opening doors, closing doors, slamming doors, making new doors, portals, orifices, wolf at the door, knocking on doors, creaking doors, barn-doors, trapdoors, behind closed doors… All of these address power between the positionality of people to their proverbial door(s). Lease Agreement invited the Secret Committee to curate this exhibition. Each of the members of the Secret Committee invited one person to contribute to the exhibition and then each contributor invited one more person. 

MdW Assembly brings together artist-led projects from across the region for a four-day alternative (to an) art fair September 8th-11th, 2022 in Chicago. Application, participation, and attendance are free for all. The assembly will take place at MANA Contemporary, in addition to Co-Prosperity and other Chicago venues. With the goal of bringing together multiple hyperlocal scenes from across the Midwest, gathering at MdW Assembly facilitates opportunities to work together to build pathways for lasting coalitions of purposeful, artist-led action.  

Secret Committee is a group of five international visual and performing artists who have been meeting virtually once a week for two and a half years, non-stop. Unbelievable. We haven’t seen our most handsomest member for a long time because he’s no longer single and has a baby. We don’t know each other’s heights. We have hardcore humor 啦 (la): We do nothing - that’s not true! We do everything. We do learning, teaching, eating, complaining, strategizing, old man collage, master-classes, shaking, night walking/strolling/wandering, yoga, anti-imperialism, and marketing training. For the record, we invite guests, but they don’t always know why they are here. Secret Committee is good for our health.

Lease Agreement is an artist-run and nomadic curatorial project directed by Adam Farcus. The gallery programming continues in the tradition of alternative art spaces by organizing conceptually rigorous, engaging work for exhibitions, screenings, performances, and art events. Lease Agreement sometimes has a physical gallery, hosts online events, and also partners with galleries, organizations, businesses, and utilizes public spaces to bring contemporary art to viewers. Lease Agreement is currently based in Bloomington, Illinois, and does not have a dedicated exhibition space.

image: from Cosmic Meltdown by Muriel Louveau (vocals) and Mei Yamanaka (dance)