Meet Her Hands: Deborah Valcin
Photo by Diana Ascarrunz
Meet Her Hands is a collaborative exhibition series, produced by #bbatx and the Elisabet Ney Museum every summer, featuring three Texan women artists. This season, we're proud to host animator and illustrator Alie Jackson, documentary photographer Deborah Valcin and conceptual artist Cindy Popp. Each artist will showcase work within the Elisabet Ney's collection for two weeks, and throughout the summer we'll explore sculptor Elisabet Ney's legacy, while writing a new history of women in the arts.
The second exhibition in Meet Her Hands, "Black Angels" by artist Deborah Valcin, opened on Thursday, July 19. Thank you to our collaborators at the Elisabet Ney Museum, our drink sponsors Austin Cocktails, our volunteers and partners for making this show possible.
MEET THE ARTIST BEHIND EXHIBIT TWO, "BLACK ANGELS:"
Deborah is a Haitian filmmaker based in Austin, Texas with five years of videography under her belt. She has a strong passion for screenwriting and has written multiple scripts, two of which became short films. Her passion for her home country of Haiti drives her to constantly come up with new story ideas and a strong desire to bring to light unique stories centered around the Haitian narrative and the Haitian Diaspora. Deborah's lifelong passion is to explore the fluidity of human condition, the complexity of the Haitian narrative, and the curious nature of emotion and how it manifests itself in art, in others, and in nature. Deborah Valcin also exhibited work at #bbatx's electronic music and digital arts residency at Native Hostels in May 2018.
ABOUT THE SHOW:
Hosted within the guest artist space at the Elisabet Ney Museum, Black Angels by Deborah Valcin repositions subjects of her documentary work as heavenly beings. "Black bodies in spaces—we belong. We have every right to exist. Ever since Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, and more, it’s been tiring. They demonize Black people. We aren’t demons and we deserve to not be seen as such. We are normal people who do everyday things, we deserve to be seen as people who are worthy of existing. My use of the halo is to say to the viewer that this person is worthy to be seen as a beautiful person. We shouldn’t be looked down upon. We are perfect in our imperfection." — Deborah Valcin
Photo by Diana Ascarrunz
COMING UP NEXT:
You can view "Black Angels" through August 3 at the Elisabet Ney Museum during museum hours. Our next exhibition in this series will present a series of works by conceptual artist Cindy Popp, opening August 9. You can get more details on the opening reception here.
MEET THE PRODUCERS, PARTNERS AND VENUE:
About #bossbabesATX, the producers: We exist to build educated and empowered creative communities at the intersections of sisterhood and space. Through event series, showcases and personal/professional development programs, we amplify and connect women-identifying artists, creatives and entrepreneurs. Since we've been in operation, we've provided a platform of visibility, outreach and financial opportunity to 300+ Texas-based women artists, 400+ women-owned businesses and women activists. We were selected by The White House to attend the United State of Women Summit in June 2016 and inducted into the City of Austin Hall of Fame in 2017. This production has been made possible in part by 2018 presenting partners Resplendent Hospitality.
About the Elisabet Ney Museum: In 1892, European portrait sculptress Elisabet Ney (1833-1907) purchased property in Austin, established a studio named Formosa and resumed her career as a noted sculptor of notables. At Formosa, Ney sculpted legendary Texans, among them Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston. Ney also assembled at her American studio portraits of European notables, including King Ludwig II of Bavaria, Otto von Bismarck, Arthur Schopenhauer and Jacob Grimm rendered from life as a young artist in Europe. At the turn of the 19th century, Elisabet Ney’s studio became a gathering place for influential Texans drawn to “Miss Ney” and to the stimulating discussions of politics, art and philosophy that took place there. Following Ney’s death in 1907, her friends preserved the studio and its contents as the Elisabet Ney Museum and established the Texas Fine Arts Association dedicated to her memory.