Renée Stout: The House of Chance and Mischief / Hemphill

Renée Stout: The House of Chance and Mischief

September 11 - October 30, 2010 

Saturday, September 11, 2010 public reception from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

September 16, 2010, at 2:00 p.m., Renée Stout will participate in the panel discussion Performance in/of Contemporary African American Art, with Jefferson Pinder and Kevin Cole, moderated by Dr. Laurie Frederick Meer. This event is part of the Performing Race in African American Visual Culture Symposium,

September 15 - 16, organized by Yale University and the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora (www.driskellcenter.umd.edu).

Washington DC – In recent years, the contemporary art audience has often appeared more interested in opening receptions and art parties than in looking at art. But, of course, some parties are more meaningful than others. Renée Stout’s exhibition, The House of Chance and Mischief, is that party.

The House of Chance and Mischief is based on a recurring dream of Renée Stout’s, in which she is walking through a familiar house and suddenly encounters a door that leads to new and mysterious rooms. Stout understands the house of her dream to be a metaphor for the self, and the newly revealed rooms to represent an expanding awareness of a world inside and outside of that self.

 It's Gone Be Alright, 2010 (detail)
acrylic and spray paint on wood strips on panel
24” x 30” x 2 1/2”  Image courtesy Hemphill Fine Art

Her dream, the challenges of friendship and family, and current events comprise the content of Stout’s fourth exhibition at Hemphill. The show is a cacophonous party where guests peer into the lives of the characters developed throughout Stout’s oeuvre. She presents a body of expertly rendered images and carefully manipulated objects, creating various tableaux that also speak as a personal narrative. Her work blends cultural heritage, personal mythology, and social responsibility from the perspective of an African-American woman. Utilizing imagery from African traditions, popular culture, and personal politics, she delineates pathways among cultures, communities, and individuals. Stout’s open creative process continually introduces new possibilities for her role as observer, trickster, healer, and artist.

In April 2010, the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, awarded Renée Stout the David C. Driskell Prize, which recognizes Stout’s original and important contribution to the field of African-American art.

Hemphill
1515 14th Street NW
Washington, DC
www.hemphillfinearts.com