Finnegan Shannon’s provocative work champions art world access for disabled people

Based in New York, American multidisciplinary artist Finnegan Shannon has made a name for themselves through their subversive, access-focused artworks. Their practice has always spoken to the disabled community, and they say their art is defined by a constant questioning of “how we, as [a society], can move towards more nuanced and more transformative approaches to access.”

Working across design, installation and studio art, Finnegan’s focus has culminated in a range of innovative projects and exhibitions, including Anti-Stairs Club Lounge, a purpose-designed space within the Wassaic Project in New York. Here, seven floors and no elevator make much of the work housed within inaccessible to those who cannot use the stairs, but Finnegan’s space counters this with an artwork-cum-seating area that offers reading materials, refreshments, a charging station and a mural that says ‘The higher you climb, the farther you fall.’

Another notable project from Finnegan’s oeuvre is their series of benches that have been placed in museums around the country. Titled Do you want us here or not, the series challenges these institutions on their lack of seating options by providing custom-made blue benches with white text painted on top. Lines from the benches include: ‘It was hard to get here. Rest if you agree’ and ‘This exhibition has asked me to stand for too long. Sit if you agree’. Simple in execution yet inherently provocative, Finnegan’s unique brand of art mixes the mundane with the political.

Speaking on the questions that drive their work, Finnegan says “How can practices of access nourish cross-disability solidarity and connection? How do we make spaces and experiences that disabled people not only can access but want to access?” They conclude: “By centering fellow disabled people as the primary audience for my work, my hope is that my experiments point to and manifest settings where disabled people are not just tolerated but where we can be together and thrive.”