by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
Artist André Leon Gray works in different types of media to create art informed by intensive multidisciplinary research. This makes him a perfect candidate for artistic residency at Dickinson, where students are exposed to varied artistic processes and different ways of thinking. And so the campus was delighted to welcome Gray to Carlisle this fall.
Gray is Dickinson’s 2024 Sylvia J. Smith '73 Artist-in-Residence. Named for the influential architect and alumna who's made it possible, the residency program has hosted numerous national and internationally recognized artists in the 15 years since its launch. Each artist-in-residence spends six to eight weeks on campus, creating and exhibiting new art and enriching the creative culture on campus.
Gray, a self-taught artist, combines drawings, paintings, sculptures, collages and video to illuminate issues relating to culture, identity and history—and to explore the experiences of remembering and forgetting. His research and development process often includes collaborations with research institutions, scholars, architects, visual artists, filmmakers and musicians, and it hearkens to improvisational art forms, such as jazz and freestyle rap.
As part of his residency at Dickinson, André Leon Gray offered individualized critiques of senior studio-art majors' work. Photo by Dan Loh.
After arriving on campus in September, Gray introduced himself formally through a lecture about his creative process. During the weeks that followed, he’s been hard at work on new art that invites viewers to consider challenges to power structures and disruptions of social hierarchies. Collaborations with staff members in Dickinson’s Archives & Special Collections and Center for the Futures of Native Peoples have immersed Gray, and his new work, in the history and cultural significance of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
Because the artists-in-residence set up a studio space in the Goodyear Building, near student studios and classrooms, it’s easy for students to interact with the artist informally and see their creative processes up close. During the past weeks, Gray additionally has shared meals with members of the art department and has delivered individualized critiques of senior studio-art majors’ work. A field trip with students to a regional art-supply store offered a rare behind-the-scenes look at the professional artist’s life.
Gray also recently worked one-on-one with students in a class led by Rachel Eng, associate professor of art & art history. As Gray learned about the students’ art and processes, the artist shared his own related experiences and offered advice.
“We connected right away,” says Geoffrey Ogenrwot '25 (art & art history), a student in Eng’s ceramics class who enjoys painting and drawing portraits. Gray encouraged him to create work rooted in narratives. “He emphasized the idea of interactive storytelling in my art-making and creating something that is visually curious, engaging and questioning,” Ogenrwot says. “But the best advice that I got from him was being open to try all kinds of media, because it enhances creativity.”
Gray’s on-campus exhibition runs Oct. 23 through Nov. 11 in Goodyear Gallery. The Wednesday, Oct. 23, opening reception, held from 5 to 7:30 p.m., includes brief remarks by the artist. All are invited to this free event.
Published October 22, 2024