Juliana Halpert Wake up sleepers! October 6 through November 3rd, 2021 Viewing by appointment only Born: Burlington, VT September 6, 1989 6:54 am Sun: Virgo 13° 50’ Moon: Pisces 22° 2’ Venus: Virgo 22° 54’ To prove their dedication, a warrior will crawl through the swamp, go beyond any twitches in their body imploring them to recoil from an obstacle. And over time, meeting challenge after challenge, they begin to build what some call a ‘thick skin’. This is the mistaken identity of a warrior, one who armors themselves with indifference. It does not matter how many times you face it, pain will always hurt. But meeting it again and again offers the opportunity to greet it differently. Juliana Halpert, born with Mars rising in the east, came in with the heart of a warrior. Even at the age when vision is said to be soft and blurry Halpert was born with both eyes open, ready to ingest the world around her, with very little escaping her gaze. Most of us are tempted to turn away from an object before we turn it over, but Halpert is inclined to investigate this instinct. Her way of seeing requires courage, a warrior heart. 
 Halpert spent her childhood and adolescence in Vermont. It is a place that breathes, each leaf moving to a common beat. The river follows or maybe sets this rhythm. Even in the towns and villages the green has a commanding presence in the streets. One learns to recognize in the smallest organisms the palpable presence of life. And it is in this way that Halpert has come to know art, by locating its pulse. And once located, she is not afraid to comprehend a creation in its entirety. With Wake up sleepers! Halpert communes with the spirits of the imposing creations at Bread and Puppet, a theater whose history of art and political activism spans fifty years. The puppets have been described as gods and Halpert’s meditations bring their mythic power into focus. Behind many of these documents is a subtle urgency to not let this history be lost in time’s shuffle. – MW Juliana Halpert has recently exhibited at the Renaissance Society and Kristina Kite gallery, her work will appear in an upcoming solo presentation at the Finley Gallery. Her writing has been published in Artforum, Bookforum, Frieze, X-TRA, and Art in America. She received her MFA from ArtCenter College of Design in 2020.