Bree Gilliam, “INSPIRED”, April 26 – June 7, 2024

INSPIRED is a series of portrait paintings celebrating black creatives and professionals that inspire artist Bree Gilliam. For the artist, these powerful people exemplify what it means to be creative. These individuals have and will continue to make an impact in their fields! 

This exhibition was originally installed at BOX Gallery in the Hostel Buffalo-Niagara. This exhibition was made possible in part by Arts Services Incorporated.

Artist Statement:

I dislike the rough texture of a new, unprimed canvas. To prepare my canvas, I recycle leftover paint from my last painting. The foundation of every painting I make is a reference to the past. I create a new story with every stroke I lay on the foundation. As an artist, I am responsible for acting as a historian and documenting what is happening globally and locally. As a young Black American woman, I am responsible for depicting and empowering those in my community. I aim to capture the perspectives of marginalized people and give a voice to the voiceless. I use intense colors, bold symbolism, and expressive brushwork to provoke emotion from my audience to spark introspection and conversation. I firmly believe that conversations are the first step to creating solutions to the problems in the world.

Artist Bio:

Bree Gilliam is a fine arts painter from Buffalo, NY. She is the owner and founder of Paintphoria, Buffalo’s first paint-throwing studio. Gilliam is a graduate of SUNY Buffalo State University. In 2022, she graduated with a BFA degree in painting and a minor in art therapy. In 2023, she was an artist-in-residence at The C. Stuart and Jane H. Hunt Art Gallery. Her work has been featured in several exhibitions around Western NY. Some of these include Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center’s Amid/In WNY 2024, Hunt Art Gallery’s Double Take, and Burchfield Penney Art Center’s Sharing Our View: 25th Anniversary. Gilliam had her first solo show, Joy Comes in the Mourning,  at Paint The Town Art Gallery in May of 2022. She has been commissioned to paint several murals in the Western New York area.  Niagara Falls National Heritage Area chose Gilliam to paint her mural entitled Free Your Mind. She was selected to participate in the Hertel Alley Mural Fest, and Buffalo State University commissioned her to design a mural entitled Seeds of Creativity. Gilliam has received over ten academic awards and scholarships during her time at Buffalo State. These include the Dean’s Award for Excellence in the School of the Arts and Sciences, Robert C. and Marilyn Wilson Painting Scholarship, and James and Doris Aikman Fine Arts Scholarship. In 2021, she received the SUNY Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship, in which she painted eight portrait paintings of influential individuals in the African American community.