The 26th Drawing Show
Field Notes: Lovers, Teachers and the Consciousness In Between
Chanel Thervil, Invited Curator and Juror
Mills Gallery at Boston Center for the Arts
551 Tremont Street, Boston
On View: November 1–December 22, 2019
Opening Reception | Saturday November 9, 6–9 pm
About the Drawing Show
Since 1979 the Drawing Show has been a widely anticipated hallmark of Boston Center for the Art’s programming. This juried exhibition has allowed BCA to work with more than five hundred artists and invited curators. Proposals are welcome from all artists and designers who explore drawing as a medium in their work.
Curator’s Statement
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 Exhibition will explore 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.
About the Curator
Chanel Thervil is Haitian American artist and educator obsessed with finding the intersections of 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.
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, plus collective mural by Kate Holcomb Hale, Soyoung L. Kim and Stephen Hamilton.