September 3 - 24, 2022
From Presa House Gallery:
“I don’t know my body anymore. Although, in reality, through ongoing research and countless failed visits to the doctor, I know it better than I ever have, and yet it doesn’t feel like mine. Its equilibrium is out of my reach. Basic pleasures, like eating and touch, are oftentimes painful. Many women (particularly Black women) are affected by endometriosis, including generations on my mom’s side. In fact, Black women and femmes experience a myriad of reproductive issues at higher rates than non-Black people. And given that gynecology was created through the exploitation of non-consenting enslaved African women, seeking care as a Black woman is inherently difficult.
27 is a site-specific installation that combines sound, painting, drawing, and photography. Self-portraiture, a critical cultural moment, and family archives are interwoven to contemplate the intersectionality between the body, mothering, and the lasting legacies of institutionalized oppression. This work embodies my process of understanding my experience in the context and intersection of science, Black people, and exploitation. It is an ode to the women who raised me. It is grace.
Ari Brielle (b. 1993) is a visual artist born and based in Dallas, Texas. Her work explores the politicization and vastness of the Black American femme identity and experience. Painting from photographs of women and femmes in her life, Brielle creates her visual vocabulary that chronicles contemporary Black experiences.
Brielle completed her BA at the University of North Texas in 2016, where she cultivated her studio practice and studied Interdisciplinary Art and Design. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Intermedia at the University of Texas at Arlington. In 2017 Ari Brielle was named one of Dallas’ Rising Stars, and her work has been included in group exhibitions across DFW. In 2019 the artist held her second solo exhibition, Safe Place, at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center in Dallas, TX. Two pieces from that body of work were featured in print publications–one in Bitch Magazine and one on the cover of Sana Sana, a book of poetry by Ariana Brown. Brielle participated in the 2021 Texas Biennial, curated by Ryan N. Dennis and Evan Garza. From December 2021 through May 2024, the artist’s site-specific installation Poisoned by Zip Code is on view at the Dallas Museum of Art. The multimedia installation is a part of the C3 exhibition Rooted and explores the effects of environmental racism in Dallas, TX, through the story of Marsha Jackson and Shingle Mountain.”
725 S. Presa
San Antonio, 78210 Texas
210.445.6997
Get directions