Orlando, guest curated by Tilda Swinton

McEvoy Foundation for the Arts (MFA) is pleased to present 'Orlando,' guest curated by Tilda Swinton and organized by Aperture Foundation, New York. The exhibition is on view February 7 - May 2, 2020. An opening reception takes place Saturday, February 8, 5-8pm at MFA. 'Orlando' presents recent and newly commissioned photographs inspired by the themes of Virginia Woolf's prescient 1928 novel, which tells the story of a young nobleman during the era of Queen Elizabeth I who lives for three centuries without aging and mysteriously shifts gender along the way. In 1992, filmmaker Sally Potter released a now-classic adaptation of the book with Swinton in the starring role. Since then, Woolf's tale has continued to hold sway over the actor, who describes the book's ability "to change like a magic mirror. Where I once assumed it was a book about eternal youth, I now see it as a book about growing up, about learning to live."

'Orlando,' the exhibition, extends Swinton's longtime exploration of the central themes of Woolf's novel; gender fluidity, limitlessness, and the deep perspective that is earned from a long life. Supported by a new selection of artworks from the McEvoy Family Collection, Orlando offers a panoply of colors and tastes that seek to liberate traditions of portraiture in photography from the constructs of prescriptive gender or social norms at a moment when debates around identity and representation have reinvigorated the story's legacy.

Featured artists include Zackary Drucker, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Jamal Nxedlana, Elle Perez, Walter Pfeiffer, Sally Potter, Viviane Sassen, Collier Schorr, Mickalene Thomas, and Carmen Winant. 'Orlando' is accompanied by Issue #235 of Aperture magazine, guest edited by Swinton, available at MFA throughout the exhibition.

Exhibitions are free and open to the public.

Presented by McEvoy Foundation for the Arts.