December 12 - January 30, 2021
From the gallery:
“Ro2 Art is proud to present Ciara Elle Bryant: Server 3.0, a solo exhibition featuring new works by artist Ciara Elle Bryant. The show will run from December 12 through January 30, 2021. The exhibition will open with an artist reception at Ro2 Art The Cedars located at 1501 S Ervay St, Dallas, TX and will take place from 12-5 PM.
Ciara Elle Bryant uses the photograph as well as different mediums to explore the realms of social injustice and bring awareness to cultural issues. Born in Miami Florida, Bryant is a Mixed Media artist residing in Dallas, Texas where she recently received her Bachelor’s degree in Arts and Performance with a concentration in Visual Arts from The University of Texas at Dallas.
Artist Statement
“Server 3.0 serves as a space where identity, culture, and self-actualization can occupy a current sliver of time, all at once. Server exists as an origin story that encompasses a visual bibliography to my art practice. Server is a mixed media installation that incorporates: collage, photographs, audio, moving image, objects, and relics. When brought together, the installation becomes a life-sized view of this bibliography in the real, a space not hosted virtually but physically.
My inspiration for Server is the need to save and archive data that embodies Black culture. I have always been a hoarder; a miner for Black images. Over time and through my studies I realized that there were few people curating and cataloging these images and films in general. Most of the people who did just had it saved locally on their desktop or on a hosted site that was made for blogging or mass sharing of images. It was very important for me to take this data out and physically ‘like’ and share these images by plastering them all over in an installation. The process of gathering imagery starts from an assortment of archive data that I have been accumulating over the last decade. The images have been saved from Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram. With these images, I create various sized posters and prints as a sample of the data I have collected. The audio manifests itself from a youtube visual playlist that I have been compiling over the last few years. The video is also an integral part of the installation. The video mimics the rhythm of scrolling through one’s feed, showing how this data exists in the interwebs.
I decided that Server had to be made to challenge the predominately white graduate institution that I was attending at the time. However, in turn it became a launching pad to build a place where other Black people can see themselves. ‘Nothing without intention, do nothing without intention…’ Specific decisions were made about what I wanted to allow to happen in that space. Server, needs to just exist, and it needs to be a whole damn room. Server is a roadmap to understanding the vital influences in my practice. It shows how important it is for creators to have an abundance of cultural representation. Since the manifestation of Server, in its first iteration, I have had countless moments with people that identify as black tell me they felt seen. Server gave them a moment to exist as they are, as they are known. From spiritual transcendence to healing, Server provided blackness to be felt by many in a space. This work has launched me into creating and curating more outlets for black artists to share their own works. Server has turned into a new creative process for sharing experiences and providing support for other artists. The moment that someone gets to see themselves in a work of art is the moment their existence is validated.”
About The Artist
Ciara Elle Bryant is a multidisciplinary creative working and residing in Dallas, TX. Bryant holds a Masters of Fine Art from Southern Methodist University. Through photography, video, mixed media, and installations, Bryant discusses blackness by focusing on how identity and culture exist in the new millennium. Bryant also teaches and facilitates artist workshops for youth and adults while working as a practicing artist. Bryant’s approach to research and curatorial practice has been integral to her process of furthering conversations surrounding black culture in art as well as historical studies.
About Ro2 Art
Ro2 Art is a contemporary fine art gallery with spaces in The Cedars Neighborhood and Downtown Dallas, representing a diverse group of emerging, mid-career, and established contemporary artists – many with ties to the North Texas Region. The gallery, founded in 2010 by mother-and-son partners Susan Roth Romans and Jordan Roth, regularly collaborates with organizations such as The MAC and Cedars Union, and maintains an exhibition program within the Magnolia Theatre at West Village and other satellite venues. Ro2 Art has been named Dallas Observer’s Best Art Gallery and was presented with the 25th Annual Obelisk Award for small business by the North Texas Business Council for the Arts. The gallery’s art fair program has included the Dallas Art Fair, Texas Contemporary, and Art Aspen. More info: http://www.ro2art.com
All works will be on view December 12, 2020 – January 30, 2021. Please join us for the opening reception on Saturday, December 12, 12-5 PM at Ro2 Art, located at 1501 S Ervay St, Dallas TX 75215. For more information, visit www.Ro2art.com, or call Jordan Roth at (214) 803-9575.”
On View: December 12, 2020 | 12–5 pm
1501 South Ervay Street
Dallas, 75215 TX
(214) 803-9575
Get directions