rEN Dillard

Born in Savannah, Georgia

Lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia

Ren Dillard is a multi-disciplinary artists who uses precious metals, collage, and oil paint to explore themes of philosophy and Afrofuturism. Born in Savannah, Georgia, Dillard spent many years in Philadelphia where he began his professional art career. His distinctive multi-faceted process culminates in the application of collage and oil paint in dense, textured scenes to a canvas prepared with precious metals. The use of precious metals not only creates an ephemeral luminosity on the surface, it offers a reflection of the viewer in turn making them a part of the piece.

Dillard critically examines the Western canon, works of the old masters, and the traditional notions of authorship and mastery. Questioning the systematic erasure of black bodies and black identity, he delicately captures the mundane and fleeting moments in life while also creating a new narrative about the future. It is important to Dillard that the audience not only see themselves represented in work, but especially in positions of enlightenment, freedom, and evolution.