COLUMBUS, GA.- Cynthia-Reeves announced the Columbus Museum’s recent acquisition of twelve panels from Dawn Black’s Conceal Project — the artist’s magnum opus from the last several years. The acquisition comes out of Black’s current exhibition, also entitled The Conceal Project, on view through February 24 at the Columbus Museum in Columbus, Georgia.

For the Museum’s permanent collection, curator Kristen Miller Zohn has selected examples of diverse vestments, uniforms, couture and masquerade – the many ways in which we hide or alter identity in contemporary culture. The cumulative impression of the installation, which features dozens of 7 x 5 inch discrete panels, imparts the ways in which people signal external identities – and intimates, as well, an obscured or protected interior identity. Black’s process results in a visual exploration of diverse cultural semiotics, from the innocent to the prurient, the beautiful to the challenging.

Of her work, Black states: Who are we really? There are roles we choose to play in our lives and others that are imposed on us. Our true identities are often concealed behind a costume or uniform. My Conceal Project examines the practice of masquerade and how what we wear informs our perceptions of power and identity. Almost two hundred postcard-sized works on paper painted in watercolor, ink, and gouache (opaque watercolor) present portraits of real-life individuals altering their identity through masks, uniforms, haute couture fashion, ceremonial dress, and other forms of concealment. Seen in a large grouping, I hope that the relationship from one figure to another foments religious and cultural tolerance in addition to provoking critical thought regarding stereotyping and xenophobia.

Black’s exhibition at the Columbus Museum follows her inclusion in the Museo della Carta e della Filigrana’s group watercolor exposition, over the summer in 2012 in Fabriano, Italy. Black was one of fifty watercolor artists from around the world selected to participate in the museum’s summer invitational exhibition. Black’s Oubliette 2, an artwork derived from that show, was acquired for the museum's permanent collection.

Upcoming, Dawn Black will exhibit with CYNTHIA-REEVES at the debut of Art13 in London, considered the most exciting fair to hit the London market in a decade. For more information on attending the fair, February 28 – March 3, please see their website: http://artfairslondon.com/. CYNTHIA-REEVES can be found at Booth H13.