Cheer Me Up, Cheer Me On is a large scale multi-channel video exhibition created on site for the Alabama Contemporary Art Center by multimedia artist Valerie George (she/her). Building on a body of work, entitled Welcome to My Party, that documents her experience of breast cancer at various stages of treatment through multimedia installation and photography, Cheer Me Up, Cheer Me On pays homage to performance within the artist’s punk cultural lineage to unpack the ongoing transformation of her body and spirit.
Selections fromWelcome to My Party are also included in this solo exhibition. By interweaving the aesthetics of celebration, punk music and culture, with nods to art historical references (17th century Dutch still life painting, 15th-century Italian paintings of the Reclining Venus, Body Art of the 1970s) George expresses sarcasm, humor, and resolve to articulate a deeply personal narrative. The result is a ‘party’— a complex vehicle for mourning and celebration alike— and an address on gender, pain, bodily autonomy, and feminine power, full of candor.
~ elizabet elliot, Executive Director, Alabama Contemporary Art Center, 2020
CONTENT WARNING: These videos of the exhibition at ACAC examines Breast Cancer Treatment images and explores the topic of mortality.