In Your Face: Barbara DeGenevieve, Artist & Educator
Exhibitions
Display photo: Barbara DeGenevieve, Untitled (My mind lives in a hot wet hole in my body), 1994, Gelatin silver print, faux fur, acrylic, and macaroni text.
SAIC Galleries will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday from Wednesday, November 27 until Sunday, December 1. We will reopen on Monday, December 2.
Please visit the complete the Barbara DeGenevieve exhibition website saic.edu/bdg for further details and information.
The Department of Exhibitions at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is presenting a major exhibition honoring Chicago artist and educator Barbara DeGenevieve (1947-2014). In Your Face: Barbara DeGenevieve, Artist & Educator, curated by SAIC Associate Professor, Alan Labb in collaboration with Professor Lisa Wainwright, explores and celebrates DeGenevieve’s artistic legacy as a provocateur, her unwavering dedication to teaching, and her profound influence on both peers and students.
Renowned as a devoted educator unafraid to tackle contentious and provocative topics, DeGenevieve earned the label of a "transgressive artist" for her fearless exploration of sexuality, pornography, gender, censorship, race, labor, and feminism. Her body of work often challenged conventional gallery practices, leading to her being overlooked within mainstream art venues. Nevertheless, her artistic vision and intellectual rigor have left an indelible mark on the field—challenging norms, provoking critical inquiry, and expanding the parameters of photographic discourse.
Ten years after her death, In Your Face is the first large-scale retrospective of Barbara DeGenevieve’s work and showcases a diverse array of her surviving video, photography, and installation pieces. In addition, the exhibition includes works by other significant artists of her generation who similarly faced censorship, especially those, like DeGenevieve, whose NEA fellowships were questioned or revoked in the mid-1990s. The exhibition also emphasizes the importance she placed on her role as mentor and includes ephemera that provides insight into her artistic process and methodology.
In Your Face is on view at SAIC Galleries, 33 E. Washington St. from September 13 to December 7, 2024.
Unless otherwise noted, all of the works in this exhibition are by Barbara DeGenevieve and courtesy of the Barbara DeGenevieve Archive, managed by Alan Labb and Susan Smith.
Public Programs
Curators’ Tours with Alan Labb and Lisa Wainwright, SAIC Galleries
Saturday, October 19, 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday, November 6, 4:30 p.m.
In Your Face: A Symposium on Transgressive Pleasure, SAIC Ballroom, 112 S. Michigan Ave.
Saturday, September 14, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
In Your Face Public Reception, SAIC Galleries
Friday, September 13, 5:00–7:00 p.m.
Student Exhibition: Subversive Pleasures, Mapping the Problematic, Public Reception, SAIC Galleries
Saturday, November 9, 12:00–5:00 p.m.