Anne Harris: The Mind's I
April 4 – April 26, 2022
Everyone looks in mirrors, and everyone draws. We innately recognize and scrutinize our own reflections; and as soon as we can pick up a crayon, we make marks—we draw. Both these actions tend to be done privately. What happens if we do them together?
What happens when a range of artists, differing in discipline/media, philosophy, ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, age, region, status—economic, art world, etc... all draw together?
How do different artists deal with self-perception, self-scrutiny and self-invention? What does it mean to perceive—to see, feel, touch, move, remember and interpret? What is the relationship between self-reflection, self-expression and self-representation, between internal feeling and external appearance? What is the difference between vanity and self-consciousness? How does drawing connect to and enhance perception? Can the act of drawing together break down barriers? What happens when the private experience of self-scrutiny is shared?
And if the result is a large archive of drawings holding work by these artists, can all of them step over the art-world velvet rope? Can this be a leveler? Can this work, as part of this inclusive archive, find a home in major institutions?
Finally, can this process eventually extend beyond artists? If everyone draws and looks in mirrors, how inclusive can this conversation become? Where will it lead?
—Anne Harris