Washington Reid Gallery unveils new virtual exhibit “Exploring Quarantine”
UCPLA’s Washington Reid Gallery celebrated its launch of a new website with a virtual exhibit focusing on an artist’s perspective of quarantine Oct. 6. Artists and onlookers gathered for the unveiling.
“The launch of this website and our online exhibition ‘Exploring Quarantine’ is monumental for the artists, partners, and community that surround UCPLA. With the establishment of our professional studios and our flagship Washington Reid Gallery in the heart of the Culver City Arts District, we carved a path and a presence unlike any other,” Stephani Anderson, Director of Growth and Innovation at UCPLA, said. “To launch our virtual presence and open this portal means we have achieved a point of equity and opportunity; anywhere in the world, at any time, we can connect with others and express ourselves.
While COVID-19 has limited opportunities for in-person gatherings, online platforms have helped push connection and creation. Over 180 artists answered the call to share art focused on how they are exploring quarantine while also bridging connection, reminding people are not alone.
“When one is looking at a piece of artwork, one only sees the crafting on that image, not someone’s disabilities or where they came from. How one responds to an image is what makes ART that much more powerful,” said Aragna Ker, Curatorial and Adaptive Design Manager. “In this exhibition I really wanted to highlight the inclusivity of creativity, as artists from all over the world, at all levels of artistry, have responded to the call. This exhibition showcases a diverse and global view that reflects a shared commonality, ‘that ART is innate in us all.’”
Ker has worked with artists living at UCPLA campuses and continues to find ways for those with disabilities to express their creativity through art with adaptive tools.
“It has been a 10-year labor of love to reach this point and it all began with the vision and dreams of artists who wanted to build new platforms for self-expression, creativity, and advocacy. Over years of working together to design, create, and inspire one another, we have developed new practices, processes, and tools which remove the limitations of what any one person can do,” Anderson said. “The hardest working artists create here, and the work being made is influencing and expanding the art world significantly.”
Through the striking collection of original images, sculpture, and video, visitors can explore the perspective, inspiration, struggle, and personal journeys of other people.
The exhibit encourages visitors to engage with the pieces that speak to them by sharing a comment, story, or even artwork on the UCPLA social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Artists with work featured in the exhibit held a discussion about how their artistic process has shifted during quarantine.
“Everyone has the power to express themselves and art is truly a universal language,” Anderson said. “Even when the interpretation varies, it can connect people beyond experience; it is interactive and conjures feelings, memories, ideas, and opinions. We are never alone when there is art because it always connects us to another person and reminds us that there is something else to see, learn, and experience. In 2020 as we have realized more boundaries to physicality, we are reminded that there are no limits when it comes to vision.”
If you are interested in purchasing artwork, you can reach out by sending an email to WRG@UCPLA.org. UCPLA can support sales for the artists represented by the UCPLA Washington Reid Gallery and we can connect our guest artists with interested collectors.