re.riddle is pleased to present The Stories We Tell Each Other a solo exhibition of new work by Versia Harris, through July 31, 2021. This exhibition is the part of re.flect, a program series that spotlights one of the gallery’s artists each month. The rotating monthly series offers in-depth access into the respective processes and practices of their global community of artists. In addition, the artists have partnered with re.riddle to release limited edition, unique works at special prices. These exclusive pieces will only be available during the month of the related exhibition.
The Stories We Tell Each Other sets out to reveal the psychology of narrative in society and culture, specifically how it manifests in our personal, domestic lives via desire, ideals and imagination. For centuries, narratives have operated as a basic human strategy for coming to terms with fundamental elements of our experience, making sense of our past and navigating our present. This exhibition considers the storied nature of human behavior and the ways in which our identities take shape by telling stories and listening to the stories of others.
How might narratives thicken or give structure to our experiences, thoughts and fantasies? What are the collective narratives about who we are and how we live? What are the ways in which social norms and political ideologies concur with visual culture in the aestheticization of narratives?
The narrative of fantasies is a recurrent motif in Harris’s work. Through the creation of fiction – characters and imagined landscapes – Harris touches on reality, how an identity is formed, and the desire to align it with idealized fantasies. Some of these fantasies are benign; Harris recalls her younger self mesmerized with the utopia of Disney movies and attempting to swim in the ocean as if she had a fin instead of legs. Others, more dark and consequential, uncover how fantasy, as personal and political, has had its hand in segregation, racism, homophobia and sexism. Another example reflects on the evolving reality of the “American Dream,” a fading economic possibility of upward-mobility that has simultaneously mutated into a consumerist aspiration for recognizable status. Her installations, films and illustrations interrogate these fantasies and their ramifications; it is a regaining of power in a world where she feels powerless to the gravitational pull of collective narratives.
On Thursday July 22nd join the gallery for a workshop featuring Versia Harris (Barbados) and Lorena Cruz Santiago (USA) – Weaving Stories: In addition to learning about the history and culture of weaving, participants will be weaving alongside the artists, whilst sharing and exchanging stories. Upon registration, participants will receive a set of questions to respond to during the workshop. Stories may be real or fictional.
Register Here
This event is part of re.flect, an exhibition and program series that spotlights one of the gallery’s artists each month. The rotating monthly series offers in-depth access into the respective processes and practices of our global community of artists.
To learn more about the gallery please visit – www.reriddle.com.
Versia Harris, The Difficulty, 2021, Mixed Media, 6.5 ft x 2ft x 3.5 ft
