Chain Letter: Joy, Longing, and Communal Loss

A longtime supporter of local art, OFM is excited to share a new exhibit with our readers. On September 9, 2021, Chain Letter—a group exhibition co-curated by artist Alexander Richard Wilson and Union Hall’s Chief Curator Ari Myers—debuted at Union Hall, the nonprofit arts exhibition space located inside The Coloradan in downtown Denver.

The artists, all millennials, tackle themes such as joy, longing, communal loss, and nostalgia, with an exhibit ranging in a wide array of different mediums: tufted rugs, sculptural work, landscape paintings, and more.

The fact that these creators are millennials is no coincidence. “Though the artists are from disparate and diverse backgrounds and tackle wide ranging themes in their artistic practices, they are connected through their experience of the rapid immersion of technology into our daily lives, occurring throughout their childhood and early adulthood,” says Union Hall Chief Curator Ari Myers.

“These artists, in collection, address the awareness and concerns of contemporary persons in the American landscape,” adds Co-curator Alexander Richard Wilson. “Together, they contextualize a desire for an experience unlike those that came before us here, and a sweeping observance of the things we’ve lost, and are losing.”

Created by a generation rapidly immersed by technology, Chain Letter reverts back to an analog, snail-mail-style tracing of connections, featuring artists such as Alexander Richard Wilson, Corey Feder, Eseosa Ekiawowo Edebiri, Grace Kennison, Jason Abrams, Madeline Job, and Micah Dillman.

Co-curators Myers and Wilson selected the artists in the exhibition by mining connections from the places they have lived. Myers was raised in Florida, lived in New York City and Denver, and currently resides in northern New Mexico. Wilson was raised in St. Louis, lived in Chicago, and is a recent transplant to Denver.

Union Hall will hosted an opening reception for Chain Letter on Thursday, September 9, and the limited-run exhibition will be on display through November 6. Reservations are not required, but masks are strongly encouraged.