In This House We Laugh: Chelsea A. Flowers & Jesse Meredith

In this house we laugh. We laugh at the banal, the stupid, the hidden and the obtuse. What is laughter? It’s visceral. Reactionary. Guttural. It’s the final option when nothing else is left.

Does our laughter change in the domestic vs. the public? Where do we proclaim ourselves to ourselves? What parts of our identities do we inherit, which parts did we cultivate, and what did we buy at Target? How do our surroundings affect our ability to contend with difference?

Through tangible and digital forms, Chelsea A. Flowers and Jesse Meredith explore laughter, decor, and their ideological reverberations through our physical, virtual, and personal environments.

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Based in Detroit, Chelsea A. Flowers is an artist who holds an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art (2017), and a BFA from Denison University with a concentration in Black Studies (2013). She has shown work and performed at various galleries including; Wave Pool Gallery (Cincinnati, OH), ACRE Projects Space (Chicago, IL), Fjord Gallery (Philadelphia, PA), and Red Bull Arts (Detroit, MI). She has expanded her skills and research by attending ACRE (Steuben, WI), Real Time and Space (Oakland, CA), and Ox-Bow School of Arts and Artist Residency (Saugatuck, MI) residencies. Her practice explores subversion to popular culture, how “otherness” is created through social and cultural critique of her environment. She explores these ideas through comedic troupes, physical play, nostalgic memorabilia, and participatory performance. she/her/hers

Jesse Meredith is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist, educator, and photographer. He grew up between rural and urban environments (Schoharie County, NY and New York City), which sparked his interest in how ideologies are woven into history and place. His work has been exhibited in various spaces in the U.S. and abroad, including in Chicago, New York, Cyprus, Argentina, Philadelphia, Wisconsin and Ohio. He currently lives and works in Chicago as a freelance photographer, CAPE teaching artist, and lecturer at SAIC.

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Voyeur is an investigative series of interior spaces, both experienced and observed. Through imagining environments, and exploring the invisible as seriously as what is seen, I seek to elevate the concept of voyeurism. Surveillance culture and performativity as a consequence are central themes of this series. By giving these works attention, the viewer is now the voyeur.

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Hex is a multidimensional maker of things. A self identified Chicago artist, the unique social and political climate of the city has profoundly shaped the work they make. From painting to animation, the artist investigates concepts of identity, geometry, architecture, and matters of the metaphysical. Painting is where they began making art, and a practice they keep returning to in order to grapple with larger issues. Exploring their understanding of reality and all that accompanies that is a primary focus. As of late, abstraction has been a necessary tool for communication. Art making is a ritual process for Hex, and often leads to divination and spiritual manifestation.