Interventions: Alivia Blade, J. Cletus Wilcox, and Ren Velez

Interventions: Alivia Blade, J. Cletus Wilcox, and Ren Velez
September 12 - October 31, 2024
Reception: Thurs. Sept. 12 | 4-6pm

Schneider Hall Galleries | Belknap Gallery
University of Louisville

The Hite Institute of Art + Design is pleased to announce Interventions an exhibition featuring artists Alivia Blade, J. Cletus Wilcox and Ren Velez. On view in the Schneider Hall Galleries Sept. 12 through October 31. In Interventions, the participating artists reflect on the past to alter our present relationships with identity, gender, race and queerness.

Participating Artists:

J. Cletus Wilcox is native to Louisville, Kentucky. His work is deeply intertwined with his identity and experiences, particularly his Queerness. Wilcox’s studio practice aligns with harmonious intention. He believes that art aims to represent inward significance rather than mere outward appearance. His work emerges from explorations, experiences, and identity. Remembering that artworks originate in studios and reflect an artist’s journey enhances our understanding of what we see. Wilcox’s inhibited youth and subsequent coming out fueled his current artistic endeavors. Accumulative shame transformed into sincere efforts to enlighten his essential self.

Alivia Blade, also known as araminta, the dreamer,  is a visual artist from Louisville, KY. She lived in Chicago from 2015 to 2020, attended Columbia College Chicago, and received a BA in Graphic Design. Alivia engaged in creating collaborative installation works around memory, childhood, and gender performance at Columbia as well. 

In 2020, Alivia began her solo art practice, expanding on explorations of gender performance and black feminism, by creating sculptures with synthetic hair, combs, and styling tools. These works were exhibited in her solo show, wandering home, at houseguest gallery in Louisville, KY, in 2021. In recent years, Alivia’s art practice has developed toward collage work—finding solace in the images of her grandmothers and Harriet Tubman, they’ve become the guiding figures of her collage practice. Alivia continues to create collages honoring her ancestral lineage, investigating Kentucky history, and centering the agency and liberation of black women and femmes.  

Ren Velez is a Peruvian artist currently residing in Philadelphia, PA. Born and raised in Lima, Peru, until the age of 16. Lima is where Velez realized art was going to play an integral part in their life. Ren grew up inspired by the growing street art movement in Lima, rich Peruvian culture, and the beauty of a small South American country. In 2006, Velez and their family moved to the United States and settled in West Virginia. In 2020 Ren Velez graduated from Shepherd University with their BFA in Graphic Design.

Images: Left: J. Cletus Wilcox, Mindy Best, mixed media; Right: Alivia Blade, Farewell (2024), Collage on glass with vintage picture frame, found images, gesso, fabric, vintage matchbooks, drinking glass, napkin & ashtray