HP Gallery
Celestial
September 6-20, 2024
In collaboration with Of the Sol Collective in the HP Gallery, artist reception Friday, September 6, 7-10pm
Celestial is a pop-up event in the HP Gallery featuring a film installation by Gator Agent. The opening reception on September 6th will premiere the film followed with DJ sets by Baby Abeille and Iron E, refreshments, and more. Heavenly-inspired attire is requested and encouraged.
Gallery hours are Wed-Fri 12-6pm, and Saturdays from 10am-2pm. Contact galleries@hollandreno.org for additional information or to make an appointment during at an alternative day and time.
Serva Pool Gallery
Brent Holmes: Jones Ranch Egypt
August 28 – September 28, 2024
Solo exhibition in Serva Pool Gallery, artist talk Saturday, September 28, 2:30pm
Jones Ranch Egypt is an ongoing process engaging historic European cataloging traditions and mid-twentieth century western agitprop. In this work, Las Vegas-based artist Brent Holmes explores his relationship with mark-making, Western / cowboy roots, and the African sculptural / spiritual traditions of his ancestors. Each image is based (however loosely) on a symbolic African sculpture and a piece of American Western art. In the incorporation of the two, Holmes depicts an imaginary West highlighting the dual stolen history he often obfuscated role that people of color have played in the development of western expansion, and the colossal act of theft that is the institutional African artifacts collection industry. In iconic depictions of the West, we find a cultural erasure of black and brown bodies presented in the “Cowboy”. 20th-century Cowboy culture serves as a soft propaganda about American individuality, sparingly distributed to the 25% African American workforce (or the 35% Latino) that made up most cowboys at the end of the 19th century. In comparison, the collection and display of tribal artifacts by private and institutional collections mirror this. From an egocentric hegemonic lens, both the creation and display of African sculpture and masks is a curious note in art history excluding them from what should be considered some of the most dynamic and meaningful object-making in all of humanity’s creative endeavors. To amalgamate the two, it’s to build a libratory narrative around foregone trajectories in human history.
This exhibition is sponsored by Double Scoop who will be hosting an artist talk with Brent Holmes on September 28, 2024 at 2:30pm during their annual “Scoop Fest” event at The Holland Project. This exhibition is also supported in part by the Nevada Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts.
Gallery hours are Wed-Fri 12-6pm, and Saturdays from 10am-2pm. Contact galleries@hollandreno.org for additional information or to make an appointment during at an alternative day and time.