Works in Progress: We Are Our Stuff

Jennilie Brewster, A Room of One's Own (detail),
2009, Houspaint, collage, local discarded
materials, 8' x 10' x 28'

Greetings, dear readers. It's been a while and we have a lot to catch up on. Instead of taking the logical route and telling you about things in the order that they happened, I'm going to be my rash and danger-loving self and tell you about something that hasn't happened yet.

That something, dear readers, is the completion of Jennilie Brewster's new exhibition at the DCCA, We Are Our Stuff: Seeing From Above. The exhibition technically opens today, but there's much left to do. Ms. Brewster is installing the entire piece on the spot, taking inspiration (and materials!) from the DCCA itself. I've seen the work in progress (shameless plug of this post series intentional), and it really is something to behold. The exhibition is in the former home on In Canon, and couldn't be more different than its predecessor. Random objects, paper, wood, and--for lack a better word--junk have been attached to the walls of the Dupont I gallery and seem to climb up the walls, creating a visual feast.

This may seem positively unthinkable to say about a work of art,  but it's actually rather fun.

It's a good thing, too. This Sunday, from 12-3, our hard-working Curator of Education will be presiding over a special Free Family Program inspired by We Are Our Stuff. That means that anywhere from 75 to 300 young children will be spending time in the gallery and engaging with the art (did I mention that the program is free? You should consider dropping by!). This Free Family Program is an especially exciting event, because the work the children and their parents will do will become a part of the exhibition itself.

Despite We Are Our Stuff's radical difference from In Canon, there's still continuity, after a fashion. In Canon dealt closely with contemporary artists' reactions to older artistic techniques and motifs.  Ms. Brewster's exhibit literally places the work of other writers and artists on to the walls, incorporating them in her own installation.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. It's a little early yet for an analysis of the work, since it's unfinished. It should be a treat to see what Ms. Brewster and the Free Family Day participants (and, perhaps, you, dear reader) come up with.

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"We Are Our Stuff: Seeing From Above" will be finished and open to public viewing on January 18th, 2011. 


For more information about the DCCA's Free Family Programs, go here .