Anonymous
Citizens
Renée Bouchard:
Kiddie Pool is delighted to invite you to the public reception of Renée Bouchard: Anonymous Citizens, a solo exhibition of paintings with special guest presentation by John DiLeva Halpern. The exhibition features selections from Renée Bouchard’s Anonymous Citizens series of paintings, including the debut of two large scale sculptural-paintings.
Special guest John Halpern, internationally recognized conceptual sculptor and filmmaker, will present his theories of Non-Conceptual Art and the Superfluity of Self in thoughtful compliment to the conceptual underpinnings of the artworks on display.
Reception:
Saturday 6/28/25
The people in Bouchard’s portraits resist being named.
Their identities kept intentionally fluid, gesturing towards a collective “we” rather than “I”. These Anonymous Citizens do not mourn their loss of self—rather, the subject is busy dissolving into affective color fields marked with scrawling, vivid lines that can only be described as alive.
By design, they resist categorization, insisting on the complexity and fluidity of identity. This extensive body of paintings emerged from Bouchard’s ongoing experiential research into feminist theory, imperialism, and motherhood. Over the past five years, the series has evolved in scale and form, expanding to stretched canvases and, most recently, to large, unstretched works that hang loosely from the wall, challenging conventional presentation.
Renée Bouchard
recently received awards from the Pollock-Krasner and Puffin Foundations in support of the Anonymous Citizens paintings. Her residencies include the Vermont Studio Center, the Cooper Union, and Collar Works. She has exhibited at institutions including Opalka Gallery, Artspace New Haven, the University of Massachusetts, the Vermont State House, the Lyman Allyn Museum, the Bennington Museum, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. Bouchard holds an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
John DiLeva Halpern
is internationally known for his interdisciplinary and socially engaged practice. He co-founded Cultural Activism Project International, based in the western Catskills. He has led major art interventions, beginning with BRIDGING in 1977, which pioneered the use of mass media as a medium for social sculpture, and led to his collaboration with Joseph Beuys for the film TRANSFORMER. His projects include the immersive BREATHING ROOM in Hamden and NEW CONSUME in Switzerland, which examined consumer roles in shaping new economies. Throughout his career, Halpern has created work at the intersection of activism, performance, and conceptual art, with a focus on public participation and global cultural exchange.