Easthampton City Arts (ECA) is pleased to present the first-ever ECA Invitational. We invite you all to experience this engaging and evocative exhibition during its opening reception at our upcoming Art Walk Easthampton on Thursday October 12th (5-8pm).

The ECA Invitational is an annual opportunity to highlight local artists whose work in some way addresses the spirit of the moment — and is presented together in a visual dialogue, to further emphasize the complexities within and between them.

‘Across / Between’ features Kathy Guo and Paul Specht, who each engage with how we relate and are entwined. Guo’s sculptural and video works track from the tensions of intergroup communication to the aspirational potential for identification and solidarity between anonymous interlocutors. Specht’s photo portraits enmesh the sitter and artist, queering the author-subject dynamic. Collectively, the works in this exhibition embody pathways for forging relationships of mutuality, a necessary and timely antidote to social fractures and violence. Guo and Specht utilize their roles as artists to imagine and propose possible futures. We choose what role we inhabit to realize that future.

We encourage you all to learn more about Guo and Specht’s creative practices here:

@manguoes
@paulspecht

This year’s pairing was selected and curated by ECA Program Director Pasqualina Azzarello, ECA Chair Tracey Eller, and ECA Committee Member Maude Haak-Frendscho — each of whom are also dedicated artists, creative facilitators, and community advocates.