RED ROOM: WE DID IT!
My debut solo exhibition. Over 200 people. My heart is full.
It was late at night one February evening, and I was dancing in a warehouse. I looked around and said, "I could have my paintings on these walls." My first solo show, I didn't want it to feel stale. I wanted you to be immersed in the room, flooded with the feelings I was trying to convey. Intense, freeing, powerful.
I stopped waiting around for a gallery open call. I needed the space. I needed the show to happen. And, honestly, it needed techno. And I needed everyone to wear black.
So I made it happen myself.
I found a gallery that was perfect, and for seven straight months, I painted my life away — building an entire world around the color red. The result was 21 paintings, 100 original 5×7" editions, an installation, an 18 minute film, and a techno rave that took over the gallery halfway through the night. My friend even made rave kandi specifically for the show, which ended up being handed out throughout the night. There was something really special about seeing people walk around wearing little pieces of RED ROOM.
At 10PM, the lights shifted, the music got louder, and the exhibition became a rave. I wanted the paintings and the space to celebrate women and their beautiful chaos, so I hired 2 female DJ's (Penny Lane & DEA).
And then there were over 200 people in the room.
People looking at the paintings. Sitting in the chairs. Taking photos. Dancing. Buying artwork. Meeting each other. Existing inside something that had lived in my head for the better part of a year. I looked around at one point, in a sea of black, and felt this overwhelming feeling of: “Damn. This is so cool.”
That part is hard to explain.
RED ROOM was never just about putting paintings on walls. I wanted to make a place that felt like a world. Strange, seductive, chaotic, intimate, a little dangerous, and very much alive.
And I think we did that.
Photos: Emily Graham
Comments