Grace [2022]

Naeem Mohaiemen: GRACE
Davis Gallery, Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine, 2022-23
Buchwald-Wright Gallery, The Gund, Kenyon College, 2024

GRACE, 2022

Mohaiemen’s new project evolves out of his conversations with Karen Wentworth, a Maine resident who has registered her intent to use provisions of the state’s 2019 Death with Dignity Act. While writing a book on cemeteries in 2003, Wentworth researched sustainable burial grounds and purchased a burial lot for herself in Maine. A stone placed on the lot gives her arrival date as 11-11-1956 and goodbye date as “infinity.” This exhibition will feature an arrangement of artworks from the Colby Museum’s permanent collection, selected by Wentworth in conversation with Mohaiemen. We will also premiere a new video based on the quiet routine of Wentworth’s life. While there is a path to a dignified end, Wentworth’s time is spent living life to the fullest. Collecting a set of books she wants to finish reading; taking care of repairs to her home; spending time with friends, family, and a new grandchild; and enjoying the Maine summer.