VIRTUAL EXHIBITION

ra friedman: The Trouble I’ve Seen: The COVID-19 PORTRAIT Project, USA

Curated by Amie Potsic

This virtual exhibition is a companion to RA Friedman’s The Trouble I’ve Seen: The COVID-19 Portrait Project, USA on view at The InLiquid Gallery in Philadelphia from February 4 - March 5, 2022.

““The drawings in this exhibition bear witness to an important and necessary shifting of heart and mind. They reflect the parallel journey of a world community, as it experiences loss, remembrance, re-connection, and ultimately, healing.””

— RA Friedman

The Trouble I’ve Seen: Drawings from The COVID-19 Portrait Project, USA is an exhibition memorializing those lost to the virus by RA Friedman, presented by InLiquid and curated by Amie Potsic. On the two-year anniversary of the pandemic, RA Friedman’s exhibition The Trouble I've Seen: Drawings from The COVID-19 Portrait Project, USA seeks to honor and memorialize the thousands of Americans lost to the virus. Working from obituary and family provided photographs, Friedman along with artists he’s invited to collaborate, have drawn over 150 portraits of COVID-19 victims as a means of documentation and artistic dialogue. Presenting masterful drawings, large-scale imagery, and installation, Friedman gives voice to the voiceless and ensures that those lost are not forgotten.

When Friedman started drawing these portraits, approximately 1270 people had perished in Philadelphia county from the coronavirus. He did not know these people, but spending time with them, in silence, at his easel, with the light traces captured by the camera, he often felt he was not so much looking at them, but into them, thinking about who they were, what their lives were like and how America failed them. As the pandemic expanded and the death toll rose, RA got national attention for the project and expanded his portraiture nationwide.

The human toll of the COVID-19 pandemic cries out for documentation, commemoration, and closure and art is a key part of these processes. This exhibition combines the collective efforts and talents of people from diverse backgrounds: women and men, minorities, those local and far-away, nascent artists and seasoned professionals; putting their time, talent, and best energies together as part of the search for new and better directions.

The artworks intimately and respectfully transcend the artificial boundaries of ethnicity, religion, and culture. The mark-making, forms, and details be they heavy or light, lively or anguished, direct or meandering; reveal trenchant and visceral handwriting that needs no translation.

Exhibition Dates
February 4 - March 5, 2022

Opening Reception
Thursday, February 10, 6-9 PM

Virtual Artist Talk
Thursday, February 24, 6-7 PM

Online Drawing Workshop offered by Cerulean Arts Gallery in Philadelphia
Saturday and Sunday, February 12 & 13, 9-11:30 AM

About the Artist
RA Friedman is an accomplished artist whose work involves the interplay between the
objectivity of the camera and the subjectivity of the hand-made. Adept at photography, drawing, and recrafting older technologies, Friedman’s work melds the human figure’s ability to convey
intimate and complex states of being with the expressiveness of mark-making and time-based
discovery. Deeply introspective as well as collaborative, his work gives voice to our personal,
artistic, and collective histories. For more information on RA Friedman’s work: http://www.rafriedman.com/pandemic

VIRTUAL EXHIBITION

ra friedman: The Trouble I’ve Seen: The COVID-19 PORTRAIT Project, USA

© RA Friedman, *Portrait, Lost to COVID-19 08 29 20,* Drafting lead on paper, 8.5” x 6.58”, 2020

© RA Friedman, *Portrait, Lost to COVID-19, 04 06 21,* Drafting lead on paper, 2020

© RA Friedman, *Portrait, Lost to COVID-19, 10 12 20*, Drafting lead on paper, 2020

© RA Friedman, *Portrait, Lost to COVID-19, 03 30 21,* Drafting lead on paper, 2020

© RA Friedman, *Portrait, Lost to COVID-19,* *10 28 20*, Drafting lead on paper, 2020

© RA Friedman, *Portrait, Lost to COVID-19,* *11 05 20*, Drafting lead on paper, 2020

Amie Potsic interviews RA Friedman about his Philadelphia COVID-19 Portrait Project, which memorialized Philadelphians lost to the virus. Friedman discusses how to bring a portrait alive from minimal photographic sources and how others can get involved and collaborate on his project.

PRESS

https://starnewsphilly.com/2022/03/04/leaving-a-mark-2/

https://www.broadstreetreview.com/previews/inliquid-gallery-and-ra-friedman-present-the-trouble-ive-seen

https://whyy.org/articles/everyone-is-special-to-someone-philly-artist-enlists-others-to-draw-portraits-of-covid-victims/

https://www.jewishexponent.com/2022/01/27/art-exhibit-to-honor-faces-of-covid-victims/

About InLiquid
The InLiquid Gallery is the physical expression of InLiquid's mission as a hub for visual art in Philadelphia. As a non-profit providing opportunities and a platform for enhanced exposure for local artists, The InLiquid Gallery is the first permanent space that offers rotating curation of our artist members' work. The InLiquid Gallery aims to provide the local and visiting public with a social destination where artwork can be seen, enjoyed, experienced, and purchased. For more information, visit Inliquid.org or follow them on Instagram at @inliquidart.

VIRTUAL EXHIBITION﻿

ra friedman: The Trouble I’ve Seen: The COVID-19 PORTRAIT Project, USA

Curated by Amie Potsic

VIRTUAL EXHIBITIONra friedman: The Trouble I’ve Seen: The COVID-19 PORTRAIT Project, USA

PRESS

VIRTUAL EXHIBITION

VIRTUAL EXHIBITION

ra friedman: The Trouble I’ve Seen: The COVID-19 PORTRAIT Project, USA