Join fellow museum supporters, MASS MoCA curators, artists, and friends from the community alongside EJ Hill for a celebration of the opening of his exhibition, Brake Run Helix. Enjoy a night of drinks on us and a delicious spread courtesy of Guido’s Marketplace—plus on-theme cotton candy provided by Le Petit Pouf—while being among the first to view MASS MoCA’s newest exhibition.

6pm  Exhibition preview and reception in Building 5

7pm  Toast by MASS MoCA Director Kristy Edmunds

For his first solo museum show and largest exhibition to date, EJ Hill will create a massive installation that incorporates a stage for performances as well as a sculptural installation inspired by the form and function of rollercoasters. Hill’s practice focuses on everyday experiences that intermingle public struggle, endurance, trauma, and joy, whether within athletics, religion, the American education system, or amusement parks. Hill has often incorporated his physical presence by performing as part of these projects. He explains that “my body holds the echo or remnant of something,” and works towards a future that elevates those who are frequently not seen and heard. In the United States, amusement parks were contested sites throughout Jim Crow-era desegregation efforts for equitable access to pleasure, leisure, and recreation. For Hill, roller coasters are public monuments to the possibility of attaining joy—which, as he notes, is “a critical component of social equity.”

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