Evelyn Reyes (b. 1957) creates series of works of repeated abstract shapes in oil pastel on paper. Working on one specific shape at a time, her periods of abstract depictions include cakes, garbage cans, and carrots.
With ritualistic reverence for each aspect of the process, Reyes’ art practice mirrors the repetition and order that are central to her daily life. She begins with a specifically sized paper, always 11 x 17 inches. Next, she chooses a particular shade of oil pastel, outlines the forms, then fills them with a thick impasto. The finished piece she carefully examines, cradles in her arms, and takes to certain cardinal points in the studio.
Reyes worked in Creativity Explored’s studio from 2002 to 2017, and her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally (See below). Her work is included in the permanent collections of Le MADmusée, Liège, Belgium, and the University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, California. CB2 chose Reyes’ carrots as the basis for two pillow designs, and COMME des GARÇONS selected Reyes’ work for three t-shirts in 2013. In 2015, Reyes’ artworks Three Black Carrots, 2009, Three Orange Carrots, 2012 and Three White Carrots, 2015, oil pastel on paper, 11.5 x 17 inches (each), were selected as winning artworks in the Big-i Art Project’s fifth open call.
Read more about Reyes’ work in Larry Rinder’s article “A Carrot is a Carrot” in Raw Vision, Gabriella Angeleti’s feature, “Connection to Art through the Creation Process for Three Self-Taught Artists,” and in Sophia Cosmadopoulos’ “Life’s a Bunch of Carrots: The Life and Habits of Evelyn Reyes, both in Brut Force.
Creativity Explored
For the past 35 years, Creativity Explored has given artists with developmental disabilities the means to create and share their work with the community, celebrating the power of art to change lives. Half of our proceeds from any original art sale goes directly to the artist. Located in the vibrant cultural corridor that transverses San Francisco’s Mission District (3245 16th St) , Creativity Explored provides a supportive studio environment, including individualized instruction from mentoring artists, quality supplies, and professional opportunities to exhibit and sell their art in the main gallery space. The organization establishes these artists’ work as an emerging and increasingly important contribution to the contemporary art world.
Founded by Florence and Elias Katz in 1983, Creativity Explored has expanded to two locations: the main gallery and studio on 16th Street in San Francisco’s Mission District, and a second studio in nearby Potrero Hill neighborhood. Gallery programming now includes six exhibitions per year, with more than 10,000 people visiting the gallery and studio annually.
Selected Exhibitions
2017
Black White, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA Outsider Art Fair 2017, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY
2016
Fonds Duvel Moortgat, MADmusée , Liège, Belgium
Shapeshifting, Creativity Explored Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Resonating Resonance, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan
2014
New Zealand Outsider Art Fair, The Nathan Club, Britomart , Auckland, New Zealand Create, Museum of Art at Washington State University, Pullman, WA
2013
Outside In: The Art of Inclusion, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, Ireland Create, Boca Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL
2012
Creativity Explored at Ambach & Rice, Ambach & Rice, Los Angeles, CA Fabulous, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
ArtPadSF, Phoenix Hotel, San Francisco, CA
2011
Three Forms, Ampersand International Arts, San Francisco, CA
The Museum of Everything: Exhibition #4, Selfridges, London, UK
Create, University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA Black and White and Read All Over, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2010
Ritual/Habitual, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA Paper!Awesome!, Baer Ridgeway Exhibitions, San Francisco, CA
2009
Words, Verses and Garabatos, City College of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA Legend: Myth and Memory, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2005
Subjects of Desire, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
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