‘As Gesture’ Reception and Conversation with curator, Alexis Brocchi, and exhibiting artists, Ashley M. Freeby and Gina Hunt.

Friday, June 21 6-8pm
Conversation will begin at 6:30pm
This event is free and open to the public

How does a small act of labor or gesture have the ability to recapture history and memorialize a moment in culture? Taking the opportunity to experience the exhibition one last time, in its third iteration, the curator and artists will have a conversation exploring themes in As gesture. Dividing the talk into 3 distinct parts; Past / Present / Future, we will discuss the possibilities and evolution of the artworks themselves and the intentional gestures of each individual in this collaborative effort.

About the residents:

Alexis Brocchi is a curator, arts organizer, and artist based in Chicago. By conducting research as a creative practice, she explores accessibility of information and the search for knowledge through nontraditional methods. The connecting thread of her practice is a desire to investigate systems of ideas and how they affect the world we inhabit. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Arts Administration and Art History from Columbia College Chicago. Brocchi is currently the Exhibitor Relations Manager at EXPO CHICAGO and Assistant Director at The Overlook. Most recently, she co-curated EXPO CHICAGO’s 2018 Override | A Billboard Project.

Ashley M. Freeby anchors her interdisciplinary, labor intensive practice in her curiosity for truth telling. Beginning with an acute exploration of American history she investigate a collective, more inclusive story around the current society we live in. By rooting her practice in historical events and our current political time, we develop an understanding of how the injustices against people of color throughout history inform our understanding of American society today. Freeby has participated in exhibitions in Germany, Canada, Chicago and Pennsylvania. She received residencies from the Institut für Alles Mögliche in Berlin Germany and The Vermont Studio Center where she was awarded An Artist Opportunity fellowship (forthcoming). She earned a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2018 and a BA from Bucknell University in 2015.

Gina Hunt creates paintings, sculptures, and site-responsive installations as interdisciplinary platforms to research the complexities of vision and the subjectivity of visual experience. She works extensively with theater scrim, which becomes a filter and mediator of light, creating an analogy to how visual information is transmitted from the source to the viewer. Hunt has been awarded residencies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, Hinge Arts, and the Badlands National Park. At each residency, she developed temporary, site-specific sculptural installations integrated within landscape and architecture. Gina has recently presented solo exhibitions at The Franklin, 65Grand, University Galleries at Illinois State University, and Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. Her work has been included in group shows at STNDRD, Chicago Artists Coalition, Alan Koppel Gallery, Cleve Carney Art Gallery, Drew University, Baby Blue Gallery, Practise, DEMO Project, E. Tay Gallery, Elmhurst Art Museum Hoffman LaChance Contemporary, Front Room Gallery, and The Soap Factory.

Image Descriptions

Top left image: Ashley M. Freeby, ‘Segment 0012’ (detail), 2019, Soil, sand, gravel, & grass, 8″ x 7” x 4”
Top right + Bottom left image: Gina Hunt, ‘Color Space Modulator’ (installation detail), 2019, Acrylic paint, cut canvas, upholstery tacks, color gels, LEDs, poplar, steel hinges, 66” x 135” x 40”
Bottom right image: Ashley M. Freeby, Untitled, 2019, Germinating seeds, size variable

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Tags: Alexis Brocchi, As gesture, Ashley M. Freeby, Chicago, Chicago Artists' Coalition, Gina Hunt, HATCH, Illinois, near west side