"Of One Mind"

Autumn Gary and Alexis Javier "AJ" Perez explore the unseen in their Telfair Museums' #art912 exhibition at the Jepson Center

[Autumn Gary and Alexis Javier “AJ” Perez’s “Of One Mind” is on view at Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center through February 9th, 2025 Image Courtesy AJ Perez]

During the July 18th artist talk for Autumn Gary and Alexis Javier “AJ” Perez’s Jepson Center exhibition “Of One Mind,” Gray relayed a story about a friend of her’s expressing the need to go out into nature, to reconnect. In response, Gary noted that actually, we are nature, and we’re better off working to reinforce that notion in ourselves.

The comment drew audible whispers from the gathered crowd of nearly two hundred that had come to hear the collaborative pair speak and, more than anything else that was said during expansive discussion of the work, defines what the show is, and why it will go down as one of the most important #art912 exhibitions to occupy the space.

[Shadow play transforms the work in “Of One Mind” Image Courtesy AJ Perez]

Stand and Look

On the surface, the pieces are made mostly of metal, and incorporate a combination of images drawn from Gary’s Mohawk ancestry, and the two-dimensional “living line-work” that Perez has explored in recent years, with forms emerging from the artist’s surface of choices as he moves a pencil, pen, or paintbrush from point A to point B, all without lifting his instrument from the paper or canvas.

Seeing the exhibition in person, however, adds in elements that are missing from the materials list of the show cards that accompany each piece.

There are several of Gary’s sculptures, for example, placed outside on the museum’s second floor decks. Depending on when one visits the space, the sun’s relationship to the large metal pieces changes, enacting a completely different viewing experience. Likewise, the interior gallery housing the show, thanks to it’s smart lighting, feels like an installation rather than a collection of pieces, with the amount of shadow play happening on the floor, ceiling, and walls. And there are several pieces where visitors are invited to touch and manipulate certain elements, which not only makes one feel as though they are a part of the creative experience, but actually helps to shape what those pieces even are.

If you read the press release for “Of One Mind” on Telfair Museums’ website, it will tell you that the show is built “around the theme of ‘oneness,’ an approach outlined in the Ohèn:ton Karihwatéhkwen, or the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address.” I trust the artists when they say that this is the case. But one needn’t know these details to understand what the artists are trying to say; all you have to do is stand in the space and look.

[Autumn Gary (left) and Alexis Javier “AJ” Perez look upon “Of One Mind” during the installation process. Image Courtesy Autumn Gary]

The Seen and the Unseen

There is a flow to the exhibition that has its roots in the early days of the pair’s friendship, which began back in 2015 or 2016. Back then, Perez carried around a glass bottle of water that he was charcoal filtering himself, and Gary took notice. After that, every conversation between them seemed to focus on the notion of “water is life,” something both artists say frequently during deep dives into both their work together, and as individuals.

Stepping even further back, similar childhood experiences informed their creative processes. Gary and Perez each moved around a lot as kids, and had to learn to read situations in very adult ways in order to quickly integrate themselves into their new surroundings. Amongst Gary’s Kahnawake Mohawk people, dreams mean as much (or more) than waking reality, and the unseen still plays a major role in everything she does. For Perez, it was the unseen world of music and sound that he came to realize had the power to change perception.

There is no actual water in “Of One Mind,” nor does one of Perez’s soundscapes accompany the physical works. And the sculptures themselves are most definitely in reality, their metallic composition evident despite the various patinas that the artists have added to them.

But there is definitely something otherworldly about the works. Much like a dream feels real when one is dreaming, but feels strange upon reflection. The exhibition skirts the line between the “real” here and now and the what could be, and asks the question, “Might we be better off if we paid more attention to the latter, and stopped giving so much power to the former?”

[Autumn Gary & Alexis Javier “AJ” Perez’s works speak to each other Courtesy AJ Perez]

Be Changed

I spoke with Perez and Gary for this review, and when I sat down to write it, I’d intended on peppering it with their quotes. Through their words, I thought I would tell the story of the exhibition. When I started writing, however, it occurred to me that to reveal their secrets would rob visitors of what I’d experienced in examining “Of One Mind” in detail.

In recent years, Gary and Perez have been major players in the SOY X SOY artist collective, which celebrates the work of Latin and Native American artists. Each SOY X SOY event is distinguished by it’s originality, in that they’re meant to be experienced, not just casually observed in the way you might do so at a traditional art show.

“Of One Mind” feels much the same. One simply must go to the show if you want to know what the show is all about. To tell you “what it means” feels like a cheat; the Cliff’s Notes to a visionary novel that you really ought to just read. But if you’re willing to take the journey, to follow the path that these two artists have laid out on the second level of Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center, you might come out on the other side changed. Isn’t that what seeing art is all about?

The Jepson Center is located at 207 W. York Street. Pricing varies. See telfair.org for more information. Through February 9th, 2025.

Alexis Javier “AJ” Perez and Autumn Gary can be found on Instagram @savaje18 and @autumn.gary.art respectively.