New multimedia exhibit by Haitian American artist comes to Tephra in Reston

The work of a Haitian American artist who explores historical and contemporary imagination will expand horizons at Reston Town Center, starting this week.

“Flare,” an exhibit by Charles Phillipe Jean-Pierre will be on display at Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art‘s satellite gallery in the Signature apartments (11850 Freedom Drive) from Thursday (June 29) through Oct. 15.

An exploration of how memory, color and light shape imagination, his mixed-media paintings aim to shed light on the lack of synergy between social perceptions and reality.

The Signature gallery, which is dedicated to regional artists, is a perfect location for the exhibition, Tephra ICA Associate Curator Hannah Barco says.

“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,” Barco said. “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.”

According to Tephra, Jean-Pierre is a Haitian American artist who was raised in Chicago. His other work has explored the intersection of community, spirituality and socio-political systems. He is also an adjunct professor at American University and a U.S. State Department Art in Embassies Artist.

The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the lobby of the Signature apartments. An opening reception and talk with the artist will be held there this Thursday at 6 p.m.

Here’s more from Tephra on Jean-Pierre’s background:

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.