ArtRace

this visual artist channelled the trauma of being wrongfully jailed into an exhibit

May 23, 2018

Visual Artist / Sound Designer / Clothing Designer  Gianni Lee’s ‘They Sat Back, They Let It Happen’ is a solo exhibit that explores motifs and narratives related to the socio-political climate in America with an emphasis on race and anti-blackness. Showing at The Dock Gallery in Glendale, CA., the exhibit is a stirring emotional work-thru for Lee following the trauma he experienced after a dozen police officers showed up to his DJ set to arrest him for an assault Lee says he never committed. After three dehumanizing days in Los Angeles County jail, ‘They Sat Back, They Let It Happen’ was born.

“I feel like I’m put on this earth for a reason and I can’t keep hiding myself from everyone else,” he says. “I didn’t trust anybody [following the arrest] and I was hiding myself from people. I can’t do that because if I’m the artist that I say I am and the person that I say I am, people need to see me, people need to experience me outside of my art,” Lee said to WWD.

‘They Sat Back, They Let It Happen’ is on display at The Dock Gallery from May 20th to 29th, by appointment only.

Photo by CARA ROBBINS
Photo by CARA ROBBINS
Photo by CARA ROBBINS

@ The Dock Gallery
1729 Standard Ave LOS ANGELES, CA
http://thedock.la

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