EJ Hill: Brake Run Helix
MASS MoCA
October 2022 – August 2023
Production | Exhibition Grant
Brake Run Helix proposes roller coasters as monuments to joy. In MASS MoCA’s cavernous Building 5 gallery, the large-scale, highly interactive installation will comprise a rideable roller coaster sculpture, paintings, freestanding objects, and a stage for performances and other live programming. Over the course of the exhibition, a collaborative group of musicians, artists, student groups, and regional community organizations will activate the installation’s stage and offer programs both on- and offsite. In a nod to this history, Brake Run Helix conflates the amusement park with the museum to raise different questions about access, collective joy, and contemplation. Brake Run Helix is EJ Hill’s first solo museum exhibition and is accompanied by a major monograph (to be released in 2023).
Founded in 1999, MASS MoCA helps artists and their supporters create and show important new work, bringing visitors bold visual and performing art in all stages of production, while also creating a stimulating center of creativity and commerce that brings life and economic vibrancy to its hometown of North Adams, MA. MASS MoCA has grown to over 530,000 square feet of galleries, stages, workshops, and commercial tenant space, allowing artists to realize works at a scale and intensity virtually impossible in most conventional museum settings.
Cindy Schultz for The New York Times.
