Rachel Pontious
Adjunct Faculty
BFA, School of Visual Arts, 2011; MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art, 2017
My most recent body of work is an invitation into a psychological space, an expression of the embodiment of the Sevens of the Tarot using a labyrinth of allusions, ideas, and images. Grand and subtle ways of communicating. Gesture, body language, theatricality. Intimacy and alienation in bars. Finding the erotic in the mundane. The works perambulate these different dynamics, approaching them from different angles, and ultimately speak to transition. The Sevens of the Tarot, the mise en abyme device, and transitional architectural spaces are motifs whose overlap speaks to the theme of duration, transformation, passage. The specific pip cards, the Sevens, are an invitation to engage with inner work, highlighting a challenging moment of choice or reflection that may engender a subtle shift or sweeping change. Mise en abyme allows for taking various perspectives on the same idea, holding multiple, even sometimes contradictory, vantage points simultaneously.
Professional Experience
Significant Publications, Presentations and Exhibitions
2022 “Homebody” group exhibition, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
2022 Mighty Real Queer Detroit exhibition series, Detroit, MI
2022 “Salon Redux” group exhibition, David Klein Gallery, Detroit, MI
2021 “Mise en Abyme” solo exhibition, Playground Detroit, Detroit, MI
2021 SCOPE Art Fair, Playground Detroit, Miami, FL
2021 “Speculative Histories” group exhibition, Saarinen House, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2020 “Show Us Some Love” group exhibition, Dubois Basement, Detroit, MI
2019 “Look Again” four-person exhibition, White Brick Gallery, Ferndale, MI
2018 “Ice Palace” group exhibition, Tessellate Gallery, Pontiac, MI
2018 “Small Works” group exhibition, Roy G Biv Gallery, Columbus, OH
2018 “95th All-Media Exhibition” group exhibition, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI
2017 “Suspended States” group exhibition, Tessellate Gallery, Pontiac, MI
2017 “Emergence 17” four-person exhibition, Ford Gallery, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI
2017 Graduate Degree Exhibition, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2017 “Walking with Serpents” group exhibition, Forum Gallery, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2017 “Live, Laugh, Love” group exhibition, Forum Gallery, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2017 “Melted City” group exhibition, Blanc Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines
2016 “Drive Thru” group exhibition, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2016 “Welcome to the Thunderdome” group exhibition, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2016 “Melted City” group exhibition, Blanc Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines
2015 “Lifestyle Brands” group exhibition, Gowanus Pop Up, NYC
2015 “A Festival of Sorts” group exhibition, Brooklyn Fire Proof NYC
2015 SPRING/BREAK Art Fair, NYC
2015 “Melted City” group exhibition, Blanc Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines
2014 “Hrönir: Un-Lost Things” group exhibition, Brooklyn Fire Proof, NYC
2014 “Everyday Special” group exhibition, Gowanus Pop Up, NYC
2014 “Future Memory” group exhibition, Mayson Gallery, NYC
2013 “A Little More to the Left” three-person exhibition, Associated Gallery, NYC
2013 “The Pond, the Mirror, and the Kaleidoscope” group exhibition, Visual Arts Gallery, NYC
