tell a lie about me. i’ll tell the truth about you.
May 22, 2021 - August 14, 2021

Project for Empty Space is pleased to announce tell a lie about me. i’ll tell the truth about you., a solo exhibition of new works by 2020 Artist In Residence Ron Norsworthy. Prior to the exhibition’s opening, members of the public were invited to participate in an interactive mural painting project with the artist on the roof of Project for Empty Space on May 15th and 16th. The mural will be unveiled at the exhibition’s public opening on Saturday, May 22nd, 2021, from 2 - 5 PM.The reception is free and open to all.

tell a lie about me. i’ll tell the truth about you. is an exhibition about perspective and its interplay within the context of intersectional identity. Each piece in the show is rooted in a recalibration of historical narratives and popular culture. Each work is a scene depicting the juxtaposition of Americana paintings as well as significant architectural sites, such as Monticello, with cultural narratives from film and television shows. The artist refers to these compositions as “Allegorical Spaces,” he says “I’ve recontextualized these visual fragments extracted from cinematic and photographic sources within allegories that complicate our relationship with spatial narratives and metaphors and how (and by whom) they’ve been told.” 

Within this framework, the works play both conceptually and physically with the idea of intersectional perspectives and hierarchies. Each piece is made up of several layers stacked upon themselves as a physical representation of the idea of power structures and vertical systems within social constructionism. The works should be understood as “vertical triptychs”- an idea that the spread of stories are physically compiled on top of themselves, rather than  our traditional understanding of horizontal triptychs. This prompts the understanding that narratives become more culturally potent as they are continuously layer upon themselves.

tell a lie about me. i’ll tell the truth about you. is happening in conjunction with Interior Dialogue, a second body of Norsworthy’s work created during his residency. These works also explore social perspectives. They are engaged in the active centering of the artists' intersectional identities through the critical lens of decoration and ornament. This work explores how aesthetics often buttress systems of appropriation, oppression, and erasure. Aesthetics are often used as a vehicle to justify the commodification of cultures and, by proxy, communities. Interior Dialogue will be on view at Project for Empty Space’s partner space, The Long Gallery, in Harlem. It will open to the public on Saturday, June 12th, 2-5 pm. 

The two exhibitions are visually linked through an interactive rooftop mural at Project for Empty Space. The mural is a large-scale version of Norsworthy’s work in Harlem. Members of the community are invited to help the artist paint the mural and also engage in a dialogue about what intersectionality and interior reflection mean. 

AIR Ron Norsworthy was also featured in a New York Times article which you can read here.