Evelyn Reyes
b. 1957∙ CE artist from 2002 - 2017
Evelyn Reyes worked at Creativity Explored from 2002 to 2017 and was known for her repeated abstract shapes in oil pastel on paper. Working on one specific shape at a time, her periods of abstract depictions included cakes, garbage cans, and carrots. With ritualistic reverence for each aspect of the process, Reyes’ art practice mirrored the repetition and order that were central to her daily life. Sticking true to her routine, after each completed piece, Reyes would carefully examine, cradle in her arms, and take her finished piece to certain cardinal points in the studio.
Reyes’ work has been exhibited nationally and internationally (See below). 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, two of Reyes' artworks 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.
Select Exhibitions & Projects
2020
Mother Nature! at Outsider Art Fair 2020, New York, NY
Art Changes Lives at Parc 55, San Francisco, CA
The park "a darling walk for the mind", Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2019
5 WOMEN at Outsider Art Fair 2019, New York, NY
5 and 2 Others, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA curated by Mildred Howard
CE x CG x NIAD, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA
Cordially Invited 2, Make Studio, Baltimore, MD
BAVC, San Francisco, CA
2018
Outsider Art Fair 2018, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY
Way Bay, UC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
Nine Hearts Exploring, Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
6 Women of Creativity Explored, Marriott Stanton Hotel, Miami, FL
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
Outsider Art Fair 2016, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY
2015
Outsider Art Fair 2015, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY
Super Contemporary, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
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
ArtMRKT, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA
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
2008
Repetition, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2007
Tasty, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2005
Subjects of Desire, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
