Notes on an Exhibition in a Pandemic: Yasmine Nasser Diaz

During what resulted in an all-virtual academic year, the Institute Gallery facilitated three virtual artist residencies and launched three prominent, public-facing exhibitions, responding successfully to the challenges of the pandemic restrictions. Thanks to the support of the Efroymson Family Fund, our project with Yasmine Nasser Diaz and her new exhibition For Your Eyes Only was completely re-designed by the artist specifically for sidewalk viewing, bringing us together in extraordinary ways under extraordinary circumstances.

A continuation of her teenage bedroom series reflecting on her youth as a YemeniAmerican, For Your Eyes Only offered an intimate view into the gallery space from the gallery window on S. Thayer Street. The exhibition included video, neon, a disco ball, and sound. It completely transformed the corner of Washington and Thayer, basking the space in pink color and light, night and day.

As part of the project, we commissioned a musical composition by Beirut artist Carol Abi Ghanem, which was used as the backdrop sound for the exhibition, and an essay by Iranian writer Lila Nazemian was displayed on our front glass window and online. Additionally, Detroit performance artist Ava Ansari presented three performances live in the installation itself, with students and community members gathering around the gallery window. The enthusiastic audience populated the sidewalk and street in front of the gallery, all masked with social distancing protocols in place. Diaz also surprised us by flying in from Los Angeles to attend the event. These meaningful collaborations and cultural exchanges between Diaz and the other artists brought the world to the Institute and connected us to the outside despite our inability to gather everyone together in person.

The Institute Gallery also produced a video newsreel about For Your Eyes Only, which was shared with nearly a dozen U-M classes. Diaz and curator Amanda Krugliak followed up with synchronous zoom Q & As, scheduled ongoing throughout the term. Diaz plans to utilize the video in her own teaching practice in California.

For Your Eyes Only has already been reexhibited at the National Art Dealer’s Alliance as part of their yearly art fair. In the year 2021, when social media such as Instagram and TikTok have blurred the boundary between public and private, For Your Eyes Only was, as Lila Nazemian wrote, an installation “imbued with the experiences of many, yet wholly encapsulating the personal.”

Neon piece in the form of the “evil eye.” Part of For Your Eyes Only by Yasmine Nasser Diaz