doris mcCarthy GalleryWith an instinct for justice
Shadi Harouni and Elise Rasmussen
Curated by Noa Bronstein
5 May-30 June 2018
Opening reception: 5 May 2018, 2-5PM

With an instinct for justice brings together two projects that make visible acts of collective resistance and the poetic and lingering impact that individuals working together can have on systems of power. Elise Rasmussen and Shadi Harouni’s video, print and sculptural works offer intimate portraits of push back. Addressing the economic, political and social arenas in which citizens take action against oppressive forces, each project directly registers the political and the global on a human, individual and personal scale. Conflict is at the core of these oppositions but the work within this exhibition also offers a sense of catharsis, empowerment and perhaps even resurgence. With an instinct for justice makes the viewer acutely aware of the embodied nature of resistance and the emotional investments that counteractions demand. Both Rasmussen and Harouni document subjects within contested contexts of commodification, resource extraction and political power. While Harouni’s works frame a resistance to erasure, Rasmussen directs attention to corporeal resistance. The resonances that linger between these two projects take the viewer through intimate and mighty acts of refusal.