The LAB (for installation + performance art), in association with SLAG Gallery, has been converted by Grimanesa Amorós’ into “LA INCUBADORA”, which will be featuring “You Cannot Feel It… I Wish You Could” a sculpture lighting installation arising out of her personal experiences during and immediately following her pregnancy with her daughter Shammiel. The installation explores the interplay between biology and society and particularly the concept of male pregnancy.

“In this particular installation, I am re-envisioning the Lab Gallery at Roger Smith Hotel as a warm human incubator, in contrast to the cold exterior of Manhattan, yet concurrently reflecting its sterility. This is a new way to present You Cannot… I Wish You Could that works with my current sensibilities while still staying true to the original sculptures.”

“During my pregnancy with my daughter, and afterwards when I was nursing her, I noticed how curious her father was about my experiences,” recalls Amorós. “I wanted to create a piece around motherhood, and the unbridgeable gulf between the male and female bodies, specifically in the area of reproduction. Then I began to imagine ways in which that gulf might be bridged.”

The installation is comprised of eleven “clones” of a new kind of human body: a pregnant female torso with the same male head attached to each of them. The casts were taken from a mold made from the artist’s body one week before she gave birth to her daughter. The floor beneath and around the body-casts is covered with soft, pale sand referencing the earth as a foundation for biological manipulation.

Composer Meshell Ndegeocello created a piece of music made specifically for the installation, which reinforces the magical quality that many of us feel when confronting the wonders (or monsters?) of modern science.

Grimanesa Amorós is an interdisciplinary artist with diverse interests in the fields of social history, scientific research and critical theory, which have greatly influenced her work. She often makes use of sculpture, video, and lighting to create works that illuminate our notions of personal identity and community. Amorós utilizes her art as an agent for empowerment to involve viewers from all different backgrounds and communities. She was born in Lima. Lives and works in New York City and Peru.

THE LAB (for installation + performance art) is a New York based, converted storefront turned fishbowl producing many performance art and installation exhibitions annually. Aimed at the furious midtown foot traffic, THE LAB’s programming is designed to confront modern relationships between art and audience and seeks to force interaction between high energy, “outrospective” exhibitions and nearly 25,000 daily passersby. For more information, call 212-339-2092, or email rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com.