Borough of Manhattan Community College's Shirley Fiterman Art Center will present two concurrent exhibitions from September 10 to December 20, 2025: Courtney McClellan: Simulations and Victoria Dugger: Late Bloomer. McClellan's installation features photographs of mock courtrooms at law schools across the American South, exploring performance and the law through what she calls 'applied fiction.' Dugger's mixed-media works, including painting and sculpture, use playful yet grotesque imagery to interrogate growth, identity, and embodiment as a Black, disabled woman. Both artists, who live and work in Georgia, will participate in an opening discussion and reception on September 10.
This exhibition matters because it brings together two emerging Southern artists whose practices critically examine entrenched cultural systems—McClellan questioning the performativity and fairness of legal spaces, and Dugger challenging conventional narratives of development and belonging. By exposing stereotypes and biases tied to the American South, the show underscores art's capacity to serve as a vital critical tool across diverse aesthetics and mediums, offering audiences a nuanced look at how performance and identity intersect with power and justice.