Above: Untitled, 2018, Oil on Canvas by Raelis Vasquez.
Curator Tiffany Ward presents an exhibition of works created during the inaugural Mare Residency September 13 through October 13, 2019. Ward connected painters Jerrell Gibbs (Baltimore) and Raelis Vasquez (Dominican Republic) for a two-week residency at Sunspot Studios Baltimore. The work of both artists is connected by themes of family, memory and the Black experience in the Americas. The exhibition features eight new figurative paintings from Gibbs and Vasquez as well as photographs by Sunspots Studios artist-in-residence Mark Anthony Benson (Philadelphia, PA) documenting the residency’s process.
Mare Residency’s mission is to connect and support artists of the African diaspora beyond traditional and colonial borders. The residency operates as a nomadic initiative, moving between different cities throughout the Americas. During their time at Sunspot Studios, the artists partook in studio time, Black history tours of Baltimore as well as a studio visit with 2019 Whitney Biennial artist Daniel Lind-Ramos. On Sunday, October 13, a documentary about the residency by filmmaker Retji Dakum will be screened in the gallery.
The format and model for these residencies have been selected and designed by curator Tiffany Auttrianna Ward. For each session, Ward will host artists in a select group of cities alongside global partner institutions. For information on dates and times, go here.
