Questions by Tim Brown, Hillyer Director
credit: Renée Stout, photo by Grace Roselli
Tim Brown (TB):
In the special exhibition Pulse 2023, you feature four works that are part of the Hoodoo Assassin series. Can you tell us more about these works? How are they similar and/or different from other works you have produced?
Renée Stout (RS):
I started this series to channel my anger (I’m allowed to OWN it, because it’s justified) and frustration about this administration’s direct “war on women”. Women are slightly more than half of the population in this country, yet our hard-won rights are rapidly being chipped away at by a segment of the male population that feels threatened by the advances we‘ve made. This series is a continuation of my “In the Parallel Universe” bodies of works, through which I imagine and depict what real defiance, resistance and the subversion of the creeping fascism that’s taking hold in this country could/should look like. I imagine a world where women refuse to internalize male power structures or accept victimhood and the policing of their bodies, and instead become the soldiers in the fight for their own autonomy. We need to stop “asking” for our rights.
This is just the beginning of the series and I have added a few male “allies” and other diverse beings, but there will be future drawings, paintings, and photographs in which women will be pictured with their choice of weapon. In this culture where guns and the fight for freedom is seen as the domain of men, I want these works to evoke the idea that a time may be approaching when woman will have to become more aggressive about asserting their rights over their own personhood, by any means necessary. Marching is no longer an effective strategy. It’s a serious issue, but I still want to approach it with some humor, even though I’m not playing!
(TB):
According to our records, you are one of the original advisory committee members formed in 2006 when Hillyer was founded. What was your role as a committee member? What was the contemporary art scene like during that time?
(RS):
Yes, I was one of the original committee members and it was my role, along with the other members of the committee, to help create a schedule of exhibitions each year. Hillyer would put out a call for submissions and it was our job to convene, so we could review every proposal submitted and come to a consensus on which would be chosen for the lineup of exhibitions in the coming year. I absolutely loved the process because it gave me a chance to see what artists all over the DMV were doing in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise. It was exciting for me because not only could I see a lot of art, but it was also nice to discuss the art with a room full of other artists from the community.
In 2006, the DC contemporary art scene wasn’t much different than it is now. The city currently has a smattering of galleries here and there, but no real scene in terms of the way I imagine a strong “art scene” should be for a city as important as Washington, DC.
Now, if you had asked me about the scene when I first arrived here in DC, my answer would be very different. 1985 up until about the mid 1990’s was more of a scene, especially towards the early end of that period. For example, there were galleries and a handful of artist’s studios peppered throughout the downtown/7th Street area. The original WPA was an art scene anchor and the Dupont Circle area, especially parts of Connecticut Avenue and the crossroads of 21st and Q streets, NW were the places to go to get your fill of art viewing. Galleries would coordinate something like a “First Fridays” and have people moving up and down the streets in droves, in and out of gallery openings, and it was great.
The number of galleries has since dwindled over the years and the city’s art scene no longer has that same vibrant energy and I miss it terribly. I recount that time only because I feel it’s important for those who didn’t have the chance to experience those times to understand what has been lost and to contrast the difference between then and what we have now.
I chalk DC’s lack of a solid, stable art scene up to the fact that the city’s infrastructure refuses to support its artists, galleries, art spaces and affordable artist’s studios. Frankly, the only real commitment is to commercial developers, and really, who needs more overpriced condos and yet another restaurant? The city is just giving lip service and is putting no real commitment or resources towards creating and supporting a vibrant art scene and that’s unfortunate because you’d think that one of the world’s most important cities would want to showcase an art scene that reflects its position on the world stage.
(TB):
You have curated shows for Hillyer in the past, most notably, Six in the Mix, which included Cianne Fragione, Kenyatta Hinkle, Adam Dwight, Marc Face Roman, James Swainbank, and Gilbert Trent. You will also be a guest curator for an upcoming exhibition in October 2023. Can you share your thoughts about these exhibitions and how they reflect your curatorial practice?
(RS):
I’m new to curating and kind of just happened into it when I was invited to curate a show for Hillyer that ended up being Six in the Mix. Ever since that first experience I have been interested in curating more exhibitions. However, the issue is that I’m a full-time artist and curating is a complex and time-consuming endeavor that requires you to be disciplined, methodical, aware and thoughtful.
For Six in the Mix, I wanted to present an exhibition of works that were created by a small group of artists that was diverse in terms of style, gender, age, race, and sexual orientation. I was thinking along these lines because I wanted to reflect some of the diversity within the DMV’s artist population. I wish I could have made it even more diverse, but I wanted to keep it to a small group so that each of the artists could present a decent sized body of their works.
It still feels weird to think of myself as a curator, but in the role of curator I hope to present exhibitions that showcase artists, themes, or ways of thinking about art that I don’t see other curators considering or presenting right now. For example, one fantasy is to curate something conceptual, challenging, and thought-provoking like a show titled “30 White Americans” (A kind of spoof on “30 (Black) Americans)” in which I (or a small team of curators) turn the tables and choose the 30 white artists whose work I/we feel represents the styles, themes, ideas, and issues that are most relevant right now.
The art world thinks nothing of curators, black, white, or otherwise deciding who are the most “relevant” black artists deemed worth looking at. We’re used to seeing that, but what if the “usual suspects” that are used to being chosen as the best and at the top of the art world (usually white and male) aren’t who I would choose? It all depends on who’s doing the deciding when it comes to what’s “relevant.” I try to imagine how I would go about making my selections and what that exhibition would look like hanging at the National Gallery, the Whitney or MOMA. But the thing that entertains me the most when I think about it, is trying to imagine what the discussion would be. I’m sure a lot of people would have their panties in a bunch over my choices and because the irony of an exhibition like that would most likely be lost on them, LOL.
(TB):
As an accomplished and well-established contemporary artist and curator in Washington DC, why do you feel it is important to provide exhibition opportunities for new and emerging artists? When did you have your first solo show?
(RS):
I no longer believe in the labels “emerging” and “established” when it comes to artists because the structure/order of the art world has changed over time to the point where those labels have become meaningless and no longer applicable.
I feel it’s important to provide exhibition opportunities for DMV artists in general not just “emerging” artists, because the problem, (which I’ve already touched on above) is that there aren’t enough venues and opportunities to exhibit for the many talented artists in this area. Some good artists decide to leave for that reason.
Therefore, I feel that it’s important for the city to make sure that Hillyer Artspace and small galleries like Transformer and Honfleur provide exhibition spaces so local artists can thrive. We need even more spaces like these spread throughout the city.
My first solo show was at the Barbara Kornblatt Gallery in 1990. The gallery was located at 406 7th Street, NW (downtown). The David Adamson Gallery, where I started showing after Barbara closed her gallery, was in that same building.
(TB):
What advice would you give to aspiring contemporary artists living and working in society today?
(RS):
Hmm…that’s hard because the experiences I’ve had on my journey, which of course is ongoing, are very different than the way it might play out for a young artist today. The art world is so turned upside down and backwards at this time that the advice I was given may not even work the same way now. It was instilled in students back then that we should work hard to hone our skills and our craft and develop our individual voices. We understood that if we did that (which was basically called “paying our dues”), we just might earn recognition and a place in the artworld, usually by the time you were a mid-career artist. And that’s exactly how it played out for me. Although I still strongly believe in that advice on principle, the reality of the art world has changed.
What do you tell a young artist when the art world has become something of a lottery or the art version of American Idol? You might get the golden ticket straight out of grad school if your work fits a trend that’s being promoted by a celebrity curator and one of a handful of corporate commercial galleries snaps you up and gets you instantly “established” because you’re a pretty, young thing, have an interesting back story and you’re dating the right person. But don’t count on it.
On the other hand, you could be a super talented and mature artist who’s been plugging away at a day job for years while still working away on your art in the shadows on nights weekends and vacations. The next thing you know you’re 40 or 50 and your work may be finally getting some notice. I would consider you an emerging artist. What I’m saying is, at this time in the art world, what does youth have to do with being an “emerging” artist and what does age and maturity have to do with being established or commercially successful?
With all of that said, I still believe the focus of any artist at any age should be on the integrity of the work and not the art world spectacle. I would say that they should stay up on art history…know what has already been done so that they don’t fool themselves into thinking they invented the wheel. Stay up on the contemporary art scene as well for the same reason. Avoid mimicking art world trends because they think it’s going to get them some notice…for the most part, the current art world business model seems to be primarily functioning like a retail clothing business model with popular styles that quickly come in, then go out of fashion the next season. Keep following trends and their work will be as equally “disposable” as last seasons high-wasted jeans.
When people ask you who your influences are, don’t lie or act like you don’t have any. We all did early on, and anybody who’s up on art history and contemporary art is going to be able to recognize your influences anyway.
Lastly, work on finding your own voice and visual vocabulary while periodically reassessing your motives and practice by asking yourself: What do I believe? What am I aiming to say with what I’m creating and what am I hoping to contribute to the conversation that’s meaningful?
This blog post was published in conjunction with the special exhibition titled Pulse 2023, which celebrates the contributions of Hillyer‘s advisory committee members since the gallery was founded in 2006.
