Thirteen: Nonconformity
Exposition d’Alice Blessing
Join us in the Vaaler gallery to view Thirteen: Nonconformity, a portrait series by Minnesota artist and painting instructor Alice Blessing. While not directly linked to France and the Francophonie, the message conveyed through the art traverses all borders, languages, and cultures.
The opening reception for the exhibition will take place on Thursday, December 1st at 6 pm. It is free of charge, with a $10 suggested donation to support our cultural programs. Register for the opening reception below.
This project has evolved through many developments, and the artist went on an extensive emotional journey through the concept and completion of the paintings. Originally she wanted to display the strength she sees in young girls, believing that the system of patriarchy and white supremacy in which we live robs girls’ power as they become teenagers. Stemming from her own experience at that age, developing eating disorders and depression, she began this series just as her child was entering their tween years.
Girls struggle with mixed messages: Be beautiful, but beauty is only skin deep. Be sexy, but not sexual. Be honest, but don’t hurt anyone’s feelings. Be independent, but be nice. Be smart, but not so smart you threaten boys.
― Mary Pipher, Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls
While trying to tell her own story, Alice found that it would be irresponsible to do it without an intersectional lens. It’s vital that as a portrait painter, she ensures representation of women who may not see themselves in mainstream media: women of color, women with disabilities, fat women, lesbian women, queer women, trans women, women of low socio-economic circumstance, elder women, and other marginalized people. Representation matters.
After Alice began her child’s portrait, they told Alice that their gender is non-binary, rather than female. She had to examine her own antiquated ideas of gender. Through learning more about contemporary gender construct, she saw that her child won’t have the same struggles as she did, although there are similarities. Her experience with gender has been remarkably different than her child’s experience.
Even though it isn’t only about girls anymore, this series is about power. It’s about standing up for oneself, no matter how an “other” feels. At its heart, it’s an ode to nonconformity. To a lesser degree it’s about adolescent development, generational divides, and systematic oppression.
If you live in this system of white supremacy, you are either fighting the system or you are complicit. There is no neutrality to be had towards systems of injustice, it is not something you can just opt out of.
– Ijeoma Oluo
Alice Blessing
Alice Blessing is a community-oriented artist in northern Minnesota, and part of her work is sharing anti-racism and accessibility values within art. She values intersectional representation in her portraits, which she paints with her fingers rather than brushes.
Blessing teaches Drawing, Painting, and Color Theory classes at Bemidji State University, and teaches painting workshops around the state. She has displayed her work at a few galleries, and has received several awards and grants.
This activity is made possible, in part, by a Region 2 Arts Council Individual Artist Grant Award with funding from the McKnight Foundation. Part of the artist’s proceeds from exhibit sales will be donated to the American Civil Liberties Union and The Trevor Project.
After opening night, the exhibition will be open to visitors Monday through Thursday 9 am to 7 pm, and Fridays and Saturdays 9 am to 4 pm. The exhibition will be on display until January 3rd, 2023.
See the catalog of the exhibition with prices of the paintings for sale here soon.