Shoulder to Shoulder, Skin to Skin
A group exhibition featuring Mary J. Champagne, Graig Kreindler, Jamison Mead, Bucky Miller, & Alexandria Nazar.
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the birth of our nation, Information aims to examine the grand contradictions of our national pastime and one of our most notable cultural exports in our exhibition: Shoulder to Shoulder, Skin to Skin. This body of work notes the complex contradictions & realities of our national pastime in a complete and confrontational manner.
Those who discount sports-baseball in particular—as frivolous do so at their own peril. Baseball is indeed a fun, recreational game; the sport is also a direct reflection, influence, and projection of our culture at large. Entire regions of the United States (and the world) base a large amount of their economies, logistics, and senses of pride into these matches. It’s a game of dichotomies.
Through baseball, people who were once persecuted may gain respect and acceptance in a society that holds little regard for them. Despite this public embrace for some, not every background is reflected in the players on the field. A glaring example is the dearth of openly out, LGBTQIA+ professional baseball players. Even though baseball is one of the few times in society that men are socially allowed to touch each other in sorrow, joy, comfort, & camaraderie.
The sport generated the richest athletes who have ever lived. Yet those at the very bottom of this hierarchy can make minimum wage or less, often with very little hope of ever changing their fortunes while represented by the strongest collective bargaining unit in the United States.
This work gives a glimpse into the thrilling, emotional and sometimes shameful ride that baseball can take her viewers through. Despite all of this, we believe in the power of the sport and want to share the love of it with everyone.
About the Artists:
Mary J. Champagne (Philadelphia, PA)
Mary Champagne is currently based in Philadelphia, PA, where she completed her MFA at the Tyler School of Art & Architecture in Fibers + Material Studies in 2026. She holds a BFA in Fiber from the Maryland Institute College of Art with concentrations in Creative Writing and Printmaking.
Graig Kreindler (Brooklyn, NY)
Graig grew up in Rockland County, New York. In 2002, he graduated with Honors from the School of Visual Arts in New York City with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration.
His award-winning sports work has appeared in juried shows and museums across the United States, and has been featured in nationally-distributed books, newspapers, magazines, on the Internet and television.
To Graig, no other sport embodies the relationship between generations and the sense of community like baseball. His goal is to portray the national pastime in an era when players were accessibly human, and the atmosphere of a welcoming ballpark was just as important as what happened on the field. He is proud to act as a visual historian, recreating a history that he has never experienced, yet, like millions of fans, maintains a profound connection with.
Jamison Mead (Philadelphia, PA)
Jamison Mead is an artist living and working in Philadelphia. He works in painting, drawing, and sculpture. He explores how relationships and events are defined by the objects used by and surrounding them, creating compositions that combine popular culture, digital media, landscape, found and self-made objects.
Bucky Miller (Knoxville, TN)
Bucky Miller is an artist and writer from Arizona. He works with the dueling forces of extreme presence and imaginative escape. A recipient of the Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer’s Fellowship, he has exhibited at spaces including the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the Phoenix Art Museum, and numerous galleries internationally. His first self-published book was selected as one of photo-eye’s best photobooks of 2016. Miller’s work has been featured in publications like n+1, Der Greif, and The Believer. He has an MFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin, a BFA in Art (Photography) from Arizona State University, and also studied at the Royal College of Art Program in Sculpture. Bucky runs a blog called Cookietown and is 1/3 of the Brooklyn-based pop-up gallery Wraymour and Flanigan. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Photography at the University of Tennessee School of Art.
Alexandria Nazar (Philadelphia, PA)
Alexandria Nazar is a painter and curator in Philadelphia. She received her MFA Painting and Drawing from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, her BA in Fine Arts and History from UC Davis. She was co-curator for the show Testing Grounds at the Cherry Street Pier in Philadelphia, PA and is currently a co-director at Fjord Gallery in Philadelphia, PA. She has previously shown her work at the Temple Contemporary in Philadelphia, PA, Information Space in Philadelphia, PA, the Dorchester Art Project in Boston, MA, Fowler-Kellogg Art Center in Chautauqua, NY, Onkel Olga’s Atelier Odense, Denmark and Gæsteatelier Hollufgård in Odense, Denmark. She has also attended residencies at the Pine Meadows Artist Residency, the Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency, MASS MOCA in North Adams, MA and the Chautauqua School of Art in Chautauqua, NY.
About The Information Space:
The Information Space (Info) is an artist-run gallery and event space in Port Richmond Philadelphia. Started in 2019, we provide a platform for emerging and established artists to showcase their work in a supportive environment. Always encouraging artists to blur the line between studio and gallery, challenge the conventional, and push the boundaries of their creativity. We believe that experimentation finds new depths of intrigue within the structured confines of a gallery space, and it is our mission to celebrate and champion such innovative expressions.