The Paglees are: Fawzia Khan, Indrani Nayar-Gall, Monica Jahan Bose, Nirmal Raja,  Pallavi Sharma, Renluka Maharaj, and Shelly Bahl. The Paglees (“paglee” or “pagli” means crazy woman in a number of South Asian languages) is a feminist collective of artists of South Asian origin living across the United States.

The Paglees collective started during Covid lockdowns in 2020, when four of the group members, who had exhibited together previously, began to hold casual Zoom studio visits. In their debut exhibition, The Paglees investigate – with fierceness, beauty, and wit – the impact on women of generations of patriarchy, religion, white supremacy, colonialism, violence, capitalism, and environmental plunder. 

The title of the exhibition derives from Rosa Parks’ words: “There is just so much hurt, disappointment and oppression one can take. The bubble of life grows larger. The line between reason and madness grows thinner.” (Rosa Parks: Writings, Notes and Statements (1956-58).   

Featuring mixed-media works on paper, fabric, and canvas, sculpture, performance, photography, installation, and moving image, The Paglees: Between Reason and Madness, questions and reframes the labeling of non-conforming women as crazy and the marginalization of immigrant women of color. This group exhibition presents new decolonial narratives that center the reason and wisdom of brown women of the Global South and Diaspora, and provide pathways to a creative feminist future. The Paglees believe in working in collaboration with other marginalized communities to build bridges and demand social, environmental, and legal justice for all.

Please join us for the closing reception, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Time TBD

Talking to a fellow artist recently, I asked her what she thought about the title “Brave New World” for this exhibition. She said, “What’s new about it?” This surprised me until I realized that she was in high school at the time of the Columbine shooting and is the mother of three children under the age of seven. She has never known a time before the prevalence of school mass shootings. The topic of gun violence seems like a dismal and unlikely theme for an art exhibition, but art is a powerful voice that sifts through the chaff to reveal the kernel of wisdom at the center of any issue. We have to decide, as a society, where the balance lies between safety and liberty. How much of our individual freedom are we willing to give up to ensure the safety of our children, or do we accept a certain number of preventable deaths each year in order to preserve a limitless right to bear arms?

Please join me for the opening reception, Friday, January 26 from 6-8pm.

Artist talk: Tuesday February 27, 6:30pm-7:30pm