A Look Back on 2020
Below is a glimpse at all of the exhibitions we have hosted in our spaces and virtually throughout the last year.
A Charm Against All That
We began the precarious new decade with A Charm Against All That, a group exhibition at projects+gallery that explored the impulse toward the magical and the occult in response to catastrophic cultural circumstances. The main gallery featured local and international contemporary artists including Brandon Anschultz, Harley Lafarrah Eaves, Hélène Delprat, Trenton Doyle Hancock and Charline von Heyl. The rear gallery explored what is implied by “all that” — the moments of anxiety, apprehension, isolation and alienation that often accompany contemporary life — through work by an array of artists in the Barrett Barrera Projects collection, including Chris Burden, Farrokh Mahdavi and Marilyn Minter.
Ann Ray & Lee McQueen: Rendez-Vous
Continuing from late 2019, the stunning exhibition Ann Ray & Lee McQueen: Rendez-Vous remained on view at projects+exhibitions into 2020. The exhibition of photography and fashion explored the thirteen-year friendship and intimate creative collaboration between the late British designer Lee Alexander McQueen and French photographer Ann Ray, whom McQueen personally selected to document his design process and the behind-the-scenes experience of his runway shows.
Ask Her How She’s Doing
The state of the world changed with the seasons, and despite having to temporarily close our doors to the public in the Spring, we remained dedicated to supporting the arts in our community. In May we partnered with St. Louis artist Katherine Simóne Reynolds to present Ask Her How She’s Doing on the projects+gallery Artsy page. Ask Her How She’s Doing is a photographic series shot over the summer of 2015, in which Reynolds asked and listened to Black women (some friends, some strangers) in St. Louis neighborhoods while proposing the question “How are you actually doing today.” An attempt to dismantle the myth of the Black superwoman, these documented encounters create a space for the expression of vulnerability and culturally stigmatized emotional states, such as depression.
Introducing Lee Alexander McQueen
Barrett Barrera Projects bloomed in the Summer, implementing all necessary precautions to safely reopen our spaces and provide you with enriching art experiences. In conjunction with the reopening of Ann Ray & Lee McQueen: Rendez-Vous at projects+exhibitions, we presented the complimentary exhibition Introducing Lee Alexander McQueen at Barrett Barrera Projects in July. Featuring fashion objects and ephemera in the Barrett Barrera Projects collection, the exhibition explored the ways in which the late British designer redefined contemporary fashion with his extraordinary ability to blend exquisite craftsmanship with intimate and imaginative storytelling.
Just Pictures
Persevering into Autumn, we were thrilled to debut Just Pictures at projects+gallery. The culturally significant group exhibition—curated by critic and author Antwaun Sargent—engaged a new forefront of genre-bending photographers of color who work frenetically between the spaces of fine art, fashion photography, and the history of the medium to construct a contemporary experience of self-presentation and a new perspective on documentation in photography: one in which distinctions are blurred and expression is fluid. Artists featured in Just Pictures included Arielle Bobb-Willis, Yagazie Emezi, Joshua Kissi, Mous Lamrabat, Renell Medrano, Ruth Ossai, Justin Solomon, and Joshua Woods.
Vote for Democracy
Timed around a historical election in November of 2020, Vote for Democracy, a curated selection of work by Swedish-American artist Michele Pred was virtually presented at projects+gallery on Artsy. Michele Pred uses sculpture, assemblage, and performance to uncover the cultural and political meaning behind everyday objects, with a concentration on feminist themes such as equal pay, reproductive rights, and personal security. Pred’s body of work is not only a vivid expression of the political climate but a vital reminder of the power that the American people have to effect change and how important it is to exercise our right to vote. We look forward to presenting a solo exhibition of Pred’s work at projects+gallery in 2021.