We’re excited to welcome our newest team member Trey Duvall. Trey is an artist, fabricator, and consultant with broad experience in the industry of creative production. Beyond overseeing production and installation of all works coming out of his own studio practice, Trey has experience managing all levels of artwork execution for a wide range of artists working across varying mediums and scales.
Pictured: Trey Duvall with his sculpture STACK/VOID, 2018 (courtesy of the artist)
As founder and curator of SITE Gallery Houston, in Houston, TX, Trey transformed a decommissioned complex of 34, 88-foot tall cylindrical rice silos into one of Texas' most impactful venues for exhibiting site-specific installation art. As a start-up, not-for-profit gallery, Trey managed all aspects of SITE Gallery Houston, including securing funding, budget management, artist curation, managing artist budget, and installation timelines, overseeing all public calls for submissions, as well as vendor and donor relationships. In addition to the behind-the-scenes work, Trey also worked directly with artists in all phases of production to bring their ideas to life in this unique and challenging location. In this role, Trey had the opportunity to help facilitate the creation of truly unique and impactful artwork.
Pictured: Trey Duvall, Passage, 2016, SITE Gallery Houston (courtesy of the artist)
After moving to Colorado in 2018 Trey has expanded his experience to include project management and artwork conservation. Trey has worked closely with several Colorado municipalities in the care and conservation of their public art collections, as well as serving on several artist selection committees.
After completion of his two-year studio residency with RedLine Contemporary Art Center in Denver, Colorado, Trey continues to serve on their Exhibitions Committee and via RedLine has recently served as a juror for the INSITE Foundation, part of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Regranting program, as well as for the Colorado Creative Industries Individual Artist Relief Grant that provided much needed financial assistance to Colorado artists affected by the COVID19 pandemic.
Pictured: Trey Duvall, Open, Open, Open, Open, Close, Close, Close, Close, 2021 from the exhibition form/re/form, 2022, RedLine Denver (courtesy of the artist)
We recently sat down with Trey to explore his art practice, the world of public art, and what’s to come.
Tell us a little bit about your artistic practice?
I have a fairly interdisciplinary practice, my work is very concept-driven, the scale of the work, the materials I use, and the processes needed to realize the work is always dictated by a form follows concept mindset. A lot of my practice lies in the process of boiling down and reducing concepts and objects to their essentials and then building back up from there to create the work. It’s really an art outside of the object approach. I spend a lot of time editing, both conceptually and materially. In my current body of work, I alter and manipulate familiar objects or actions to create mistrust and surprise, with site-specific sculpture, video, and performance facilitating negotiations between agency and futility in order to explore the underlying absurdities in our desire to create permanence. Absurd gestures and performative objects in these artworks operate free from expected circumstances. I create subtle anti-spectacles that shift emphasis away from literal actions performed towards abstract or illogical propositions. Within these actions, experiments, and tautologies, repetitive actions negate themselves; there is equal doing and non-doing, which adds up to nothing, but nothing is something too.
Pictured: Spool/Unspool, 2019 from the exhibition Hat on a Hat, 2020 at Fort Lewis College (courtesy of the artist)
What excites you about working in public art?
During my time at SITE Gallery Houston, I was able to help a lot of artists realize their artwork and help them in their process of design, fabrication, and installation. I really enjoyed the process of getting to know an artist, their specific concepts and vision for their work, and then seeing how I could use my skill set and knowledge to help facilitate the work and make it a reality. I feel similarly about working in public art. There are innumerable challenges that are specific to creating public art, and I really enjoy the process of working with artists to make their work a reality. Artists are always coming up with new and specific ideas for specific locations, so each new piece is a new research opportunity with its own locational, material, and design needs. So, selfishly, I learn a lot in this process!
Pictured: Trey Duvall, Desert Enantiomorphs (38˚ North), 2016, Marfa, TX (courtesy of the artist)
Are there any upcoming projects you’re working on that you’d like to tell us about?
I’ve got a lot going in the studio right now. I’m working on two new kinetic works and a series of works where I’m creating silicone casts of my body and using those in various applications with steel sculptural elements. I’m also working on several installation designs for new work I’ll be making at The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art in Houston, TX.
To learn more about Trey and his work visit: treyduvall.com