The Visual Arts Center (VAC), a gallery within the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin (UT), has named Violette Bule as its fall 2024 Artist-in-Residence.
Since its establishment in 2010, VAC has maintained an artist residency program, often hosting two artists each academic year, one in the fall and one in the spring. Earlier this year the sibling duo Las Nietas de Nonó participated in the residency program.
This fall, Ms. Bule will develop a new body of work in collaboration with UT students, staff, and faculty. Her exhibition Una Luz: Photography in Venezuelan Penitentiaries, will draw from an archive of over 3,000 images and digital media created by imprisoned people who participated in a series of unsanctioned photo workshops organized by Ms. Bule between 2010 and 2012. The show will include photographs, text, audio, and site-specific installations. In addition to the exhibition, Ms. Bule will lead a variety of public programs at UT, such as interactive workshops, lectures, guided tours, and film screenings.
Violette Bule, “Untitled,” 2011, archival inkjet print. From the series “De La Lleca al Cohue,” 2010. Courtesy of the artist.
Ms. Bule is a Venezuelan-Lebanese artist based in Texas and New Mexico. Her work examines power dynamics and the relationships between globalization and structural inequality while considering migration and identity. Ms. Bule holds an MFA in Studio Art from the University of Houston and a bachelor’s degree from the Escuela Activa de Fotografía in Mexico City. Her work has been included in exhibitions across the world, including La Poli/Gráfica de Puerto Rico y El Baribe: Bajo Presión in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Day Jobs at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin and Cantor Arts Center in Stanford; and the Artbo Fair 2022 exhibition Ante América/Referentes in Bogotà, Colombia.
Ms. Bule’s residency will culminate with her exhibition, which will be on view at VAC from September 20 through December 7, 2024.
