Boston Center for the Arts 26th Drawing Show l Field Notes: Lovers, Teachers and the Consciousness In Between
Curated by Chanel Thervil
Mills Gallery | November 1--December 22, 2019
Opening Reception | Saturday, November 9, 6-9pm
Participating artists:
Meg Alexander, Ashley Billingsley, Martha Chason-Sokol, Jean Chung, Nayda Cuevas, Chloë Feldman Emison, Jason Fiering, Tatiana Flis, Caitlin & Misha, Marjorie Forté, Yetti Frenkel, Carol Greenwood, Kate Jellinghaus, Napoleon Jones-Henderson, Molly Kaderka, Jane Kamine, Heather Kapplow, Ian Kennelly, Young Joo Lee, Jessica Liggero, Marissa London, Alex Lukas, Perla Mabel, Katrina Majkut, Emily Manning-Mingle, Sarah May, Claudine Metrick, David Meyers, Emily Mogavero, Karen Moss, Zachary Naylor, Lior Neiger, Yuko Oda, Marsha Nouritza Odabashian, Hideyo Okamura, Samara Pearlstein, Ponnapa Prakkamakul, Gerri Rachins, Rosie Ranauro, Laura Reeder, Julia Renaghan, Ellen Rich, Brent Ridge, Candace Walters, Lily Xie, Wen Yu, and for the collective mural: Kate Holcomb Hale, Soyoung L. Kim and Stephen Hamilton
Curator’s Statement
Truth Teller. Observer. Disrupter. Activator of Possibility.
Since the first cave drawings ages ago, people have been trying to decide on the most accurate titles to describe the function of artists in society. The sentiments behind this exhibition are fueled by the James Baldwin’s quote, “The role of the artist is the same as the role of the lover. If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you can’t see.” In order to lift the veils of consciousness through their works, artists themselves are shaped into the role of lover by their past, present, and future.
The 2019 Drawing Show explores how intergenerational connections between family, friends, mentors, colleagues, and/or teachers shape contemporary perceptions of artists’ individual identities. Which in turn impacts the kind of “lover” Baldwin envisions and the means they use to raise consciousness for themselves, their communities, and society at large. Participating artists were selected based on submission of work that addressed one or more of the following questions:
What elements of the past remain present in your work?
Who has shaped what you create? And where can traces of their impact be seen, heard, or felt? Where would you like their impact to be seen, heard, or felt?
What strategies do you employ to raise consciousness?
In addition to stand alone 2D works, the show features a large scale “exquisite corpse-esque” collaborative drawing from Stephen Hamilton, Kate Holcomb Hale, and Soyoung L. Kim. By working together for the first time in the context of this exhibition, they are challenged with responding to the questions above while creating unity among their respective aesthetics. Their collaborative drawing parallels a performance piece from Rosie Ranauro that embodies the way artist processes and outcomes are impacted by unexpected exchanges.
Curator’s Bio
Chanel Thervil is Haitian American artist and educator obsessed with forging connections between art, history, and pop culture. Her art practice has taken the form of writing, art workshops, large scale installations, public art, participatory interventions on street corners, and mixed media portraits that grapple with the intersections of communal and individual identity. In addition to being honored as one of The ARTery25, her work has been featured in the deCordova’s 2019 New England Biennial, The Boston Globe, and WBUR’s Open Studio with Jared Bowen. While she has been somewhat of a Jill-of-all-trades on the art landscape, she is excited to partner with the Boston Center for the Arts to curate this exhibition.