On view June 29 – October 15, 2023
Tephra ICA at Signature
Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) presents Flare, an exhibition of four recent and ongoing series by DC-based artist Charles Phillippe Jean-Pierre. The exhibition will be on view at the Tephra ICA at Signature gallery June 29 – October 15; and an Opening Reception and Artist Talk will be held on Thursday, June 29 at 6pm at the Signature Apartments in Reston Town Center.
Drawing on his Haitian heritage and his experiences as an immigrant child growing up on the Southside of Chicago, Jean-Pierre’s work explores how memory, color, and light shape our historical and contemporary imaginations. His multimedia paintings speak to the nexus of political, social, and economic structures and are representative of the synergy, or lack thereof, between societal perceptions and reality. The recent works selected for this exhibition radiate with reverence for the people, places, and objects through which the artist constructs his own worldview.
“Our exhibition space at the Signature apartment building is dedicated to regional artists, and I see it as a wonderful opportunity to look across an artist’s practice and find connections between the different ways an artist is making work,” reflects Associate Curator Hannah Barco. “Jean-Pierre’s upcoming exhibition is another great example of this, and I am so excited to see how the conversation unfolds around his abstract painting, his mono-print collage portraits, and his new series of photographs of found objects that he has painted black.”
Charles Philippe Jean-Pierre is a Haitian American interdisciplinary artist raised on Chicago’s south side. He creates works that uncovers the past at the intersection of community, spirituality, and systèmes socio-politiques. He draws inspiration from his Caribbean heritage, international travels, and academic research.
Jean-Pierre is an adjunct professor at American University and a U.S. State Department Art in Embassies Artist. His works are featured the U.S. Embassy in Benin, Malawi, and Niger. He also serves as a guest curator for exhibitions at The Embassy of Haiti. He has been featured in three Smithsonian exhibitions and was a Barack Obama invitee to the White House to speak on the role of the arts in youth justice. In 2021, he was an invited featured artist for the 2021 Atlantic Festival.
His collaborations include: Alvin Ailey, Boys & Girls Club, DC Commission on the Arts, International Monetary Fund, Inter-American Development Bank, Minnesota State Arts Board, Something In Water Music Festival, and West Elm, among many others. His works have been featured in The Atlantic, Black Enterprise, BET, Ebony Magazine, NBC, Netflix, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
Jean-Pierre’s public art has been featured in South Africa, New York, Chicago, DC, Istanbul, Panama, Port-au-Prince, London, and Paris. Jean-Pierre holds a Master of Arts from Howard University, and his atelier & Galerie D’Art is located in Washington, DC.
Tephra ICA at Signature, located at the Signature apartment building in Reston, Virgnia, is an innovative satellite gallery space that presents a year-round schedule of exhibitions featuring work by local and regional artists as selected by Tephra ICA curatorial staff. The gallery is provided in partnership with Boston Properties and Bozzuto and generously supported by Reston Community Center.
Visitors are welcome Tuesday–Saturday from 11am–5pm. The gallery is located at the Signature apartment building at 11850 Freedom Dr, Reston, Virginia.
Opening Reception and Artist Talk
Thursday, June 29 at 6pm
Signature
11850 Freedom Dr
Reston, VA
Free and open to the public
Pictured at top: Charles Phillipe Jean-Pierre, Future Memories IV (detail), 2021
About Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA)
Tephra ICA is a non-profit, non-collecting institution committed to promoting innovative contemporary art and thinking. Leading with curiosity and care, the organization is a catalyst, generator, and advocate for visual arts.
Tephra ICA is supported in part by ArtsFairfax, Reston Community Center, Virginia Commission for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
