Exit Music brings together two groups of artists who challenge what the curator sees as a “crisis of content” in the theater of contemporary art. In her essay Lopez argues that perhaps all this “talking” about artworks has led artists away from pursuing the innate resonance of art-objects, and has ultimately resulted in an imbalanced experience for the viewer of the objects themselves. The title for the exhibition, borrowed from a Radiohead song of the same name, serves as a metaphor for the resonance a viewer takes with her after experiencing a successful work of art.

The fifteen artists Lopez has chosen switch genres and reward attention to process as well as to the resulting objects. Despite a broad range of styles and mediums, the chosen artists have one thing in common: their work is able to sustain the afflictions of criticism and interpretation while continuing to yield a multivalent dialogue with the viewer. Here, says Lopez, is an example of language becoming part of the work, without becoming the work itself. To this end, the artist interviews in the catalog provide an unexpected glimpse at the artists’ ways of making, both object and meaning.

Michelle Lopez is a New York based artist and curator.

Presenting works by Vincent Fecteau, Katie Grinnan, Rita McBride, Kelly Nipper and Mindy Shapero.