“SHHH”: This 7-foot-high work by multidisciplinary artist Ana Teresa Fernández is featured in “Slow Motion,” on view at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton through September 1, 2025. (Photo by Bruce M. White)

Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) in Hamilton now presents “Slow Motion,” an exhibition guest-curated by Monument Lab that expands the boundaries of contemporary sculpture through the use of unconventional materials and processes. Founded in 2012, Monument Lab is a nonprofit public art and history studio based in Philadelphia that cultivates and facilitates critical conversations around the past, present, and future of monuments. Traditional approaches to monument-making emphasize durability, solidity, and myths of enduring permanence; however, “Slow Motion,” on view through September 1, 2025, embraces the pleasures and possibilities of material transience.

“At GFS, we believe that exhibitions can become a catalyst for transformation across the organization, while reflecting our commitment to present the works of contemporary sculptors who reflect the greater world, challenge perceptions, and inspire,” said Gary Garrido Schneider, executive director of Grounds For Sculpture.
“Collaborating with a guest curator and project partner such as Monument Lab infuses new perspectives and supports innovative approaches to curating, while presenting new voices and ideas.”

“Slow Motion” is organized by Monument Lab, with five artists selected to participate and respond to the exhibition’s central question, “How do we remake our relationship with monuments?” The artists were chosen based on several key criteria: use of unconventional materials; ability to embrace playfulness in their creative practice; and the incorporation of accessibility, inclusivity, and equity lenses in their work. The featured artists are Billy Dufala, Ana Teresa Fernández, Colette Fu, Omar Tate, and Sandy Williams IV. Each artist’s work underscores how materials are not just a medium for monumental work; materials carry meanings themselves, functioning as symbols of specific places, memories, scents, and feelings.

“We’re thrilled to work with and learn from these five artists, whose interdisciplinary practices have long experimented with the materialities and temporalities of public memory,” said Patricia Eunji Kim, Monument Lab curator of “Slow Motion.” “Their boundary-pushing artworks for this exhibition inspire visitors to re-orient themselves in how they relate to monuments, to collective memories, and ultimately, to each other.”

“Slow Motion” is made possible by exhibition support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Brooke Barrie Art Fund, NRG Energy, and Julie and Michael Nachamkin. Support is provided in part by the Atlantic Foundation and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, New Jersey Department of State.

Grounds For Sculpture is located at 80 Sculptors Way in Hamilton. For more information, visit groundsforsculpture.org.