Adrienne Elise Tarver discusses her exhibition at Boston University

Adrienne Elise Tarver’s She who sits, presented on hundreds of JCDecaux bus shelters and newsstands in New York City (100), Chicago (150), and Boston (50), features a series of paintings foregrounding the bus shelter as a site of physical respite and sociopolitical catalyzation. An interdisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, Tarver’s practice spans painting, sculpture, installation, photography, textiles, and video. Her work addresses multifaceted Black female identities, including history within domestic spaces, the fantasy of the tropical seductress, and the archetype of the all-knowing spiritual matriarch.

Tarver’s Public Art Fund exhibition explores the visibility and invisibility of Black women and the seats they can—or cannot—take within public and social spaces. She created a series of paintings of Black women, depicted within scenes of rest and locales of ease. The seated women in Tarver’s paintings are positioned as companions to people sitting and resting at these bus shelters, sharing a simple moment in the midst of a bustling city and complicated life. This exhibition will mark the artist’s first solo public art exhibition.

Adrienne Elise Tarver’s exhibition She who sits is curated by Public Art Fund Assistant Curator Jenée-Daria Strand.

The event’s speakers are Adrienne Elise Tarver (CFA’07), artist; Jenée-Daria Strand, Assistant Curator, Public Art Fund; and Harvey Young, Dean, Boston University College of Fine Arts.