There was a house
Alicia Henry: There Was a House, is an exploration of isolation and interaction, and how these experiences are shaped by social differences. Henry’s compelling masks and figures evoke webs of relationships and the wealth of stories that unfold behind closed doors, in the words of the artist, “adventures, heartache, and lovely things happening.”
Stitched together from layers of different materials, and possessing individual features and qualities, each of Henry’s characters assumes a distinct and compelling presence that makes a powerful address to the viewer. At the same time, their blank features also resist easy characterization or identification. Frist Curator Mark Scala once described Henry’s works as “anti-portraits,” representations not of interior subjectivity or personality, but of people as “social beings” with layers upon layers of masks.
Alicia Henry received her B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her M.F.A. from Yale University. In addition to her Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Henry has been awarded many other grants, residencies, and awards. Henry is an Associate Professor in the Language and Arts Department at Fisk University.
