A WINDOW TO EUROPE: THROUGH ART & LITERATURE
FEATURING ALANNA REEVES
September 27 - October 13, 2021
Plain Sight DC and the EU National Institutes of Culture in Washington, DC present A Window to Europe: Through Literature and Art, a series of short exhibitions featuring eleven visual artists from the Washington, DC region who will create work in response to eleven books by European writers, as part of the 2021 Europe Readr project. In this exhibition, Alanna Reeves creates work in response to Spanish writer Roser Capdevila’s book La Ciudad (The City).
This exhibition is presented in partnership with EUNIC DC, the EU Delegation to the United States, and the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION: Alanna Reeves's exhibition combines Roser Capdevila’s illustrated themes of exploration, observation, and detail with her personal interests in mapping and grounding in nature. While Capdevila’s La Ciudad focuses on a city’s urban landscape, this installation instead turns its attention to DC’s natural spaces. Reeves visited DC’s Arboretum, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, and other parks around DC to document their features, then digitally collaged images from these sites onto semi-transparent fabric. An embroidered graphic overlay speaks to the ways visitors navigate the pathways and paper guides to these spaces. Additional embroidery floss suspends the work, trailing from the larger image into the space around it. These lines can be seen as additional pathways not yet explored within shadows of their landscapes.
Alanna Reeves is a Washington, DC-based artist and writer. She is a 2015 graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design where she earned a BFA in Illustration and Concentration in History of Art and Visual Culture. This study has resulted in a focus on origins, identity discontinuity, the idealization of the homeland, and mental health. These themes are reflected through a means of painting, printmaking, narrative, and, when fortunate, food.
Roser Capdevila (1939) is an artist, writer, and illustrator. As an artist, she created graphics, oil paintings, and watercolors; in 1980, she devoted herself to illustration, especially for children and young adults. Since 1990, she has been involved in the production of The Triplets animated series. Her works have been translated into all major languages. In 2010, she received the Spanish Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts and the Medal of Honour of the Parliament of Catalonia.
A Window Through Europe
This exhibition is part of A Window to Europe: Through Literature and Art, a series of short exhibitions featuring eleven visual artists from the Washington, DC region who are creating work in response to eleven books by European writers, as part of the 2021 Europe Readr project. Featured artists are Hoesy Corona, Alanna Reeves, Mike Thron, Michal Gavish, Julie Wills, MK Bailey, Antonio McAfee, Emily Fussner, Stephanie Williams, Lionel Frazier White III, and Sobia Ahmad.
