Hillyer Art Space, Washington Project for the Arts and Black Artists of DC

April 2011

Process: Reaffirmation

Presented by Hillyer Art Space in collaboration with Washington Project for the Arts, and Black Artists of D.C.

Curated by Gina Marie Lewis, Process: Reaffirmation focused on and reaffirmed the processes of artists within their studios. The exhibition honored the personal philosophies, practices, and vocabularies of eight artists and attempted to explore a visual dialogue between their works. The lack of a specific theme outside of this dialogue was not an oversight. The entire process of the exhibition from submission through selection to mounting the show was an experiment of creation in progress.

The exhibition represents an opportunity for artists to retain power over their work in the context of their own philosophies and interpretations. The artists selected for this exhibition include Anne Bouie, Daniel Brookings, Joel D’Orazio, Victor Ekpuk, Corwin Levi, Barbara Liotta, Adrienne Mills, and Cleve Overton. In some cases, the relationships between their works may be obvious, and other instances invite the viewer to inquire and explore the relationships from their own point of view. As a starting point, such aspects as linear relationships, creation of new processes, innovative use of materials, the making of marks, and defining space were most apparent during the curatorial process.