9/11 Installation: GESTURE Manju Shandler GESTURE is a thought provoking memorial installation comprised of over 3,000 brick-sized paintings, painstakingly created by New York artist Manju Shandler. This fall, Ms. Shandler will be bringing GESTURE to Washington D.C. The show, which opens Tuesday evening September 11th at 7pm, was inspired by Ms. Shandler’s experiences in Manhattan during the attacks on the World Trade Center. The artwork is modern, vivid and plays with the spectrum of color. From far away the piece looks like a myriad of colors fading in and out of each other. Upon getting closer the viewer realizes that this wall of color is really small paintings of scenes that were witnessed on and after September 11th 2001, in New York City.
Manju Shandler refers to the creation of her exhibit as “Positive Bystanding.” Professor Ervin Staub of the University of Massachusetts, a world-renowned social psychologist and author of “The Roots of Evil”, has done extensive research into “Bystanding” - how observers of violence respond. When atrocities are committed people respond in 3 very different ways; the first is with anger and retaliation, the second is becoming overwhelmed and doing nothing, and the third is responding productively. “Positive Bystanding” is a way of bearing witness to an event and responding proactively. Gesture is an example of positive bystanding in that the artist took the only tools and power that were hers to created something beautiful and healing for the world to use.
Ms. Shandler will use Positive Bystanding to also create an Anacostia based GESTURE for youth ages 5 -12 on Monday September 10th. This student exhibit will then accompany the Original GESTURE exhibit in a 9/11 Memorial on Tuesday September 11th, 2007 at 7pm in Anacostia. GESTURE is part of the Honfleur Gallery’s Social Arts Initiative and is supported by the Deputy Mayor’s Office of Planning and Economic Development.
For inquiries in the opening, the 9/11 memorial reception please contact the Honfleur Gallery, 1241 Good Hope Rd. SE Washington D.C. at 202-631-6291.