Ann Lewis

"At first you may just see lines- some op-artesque vibes goin on. But if you take a closer look you’ll see there is a word hidden in each piece. 

"This series is inspired by a friend (who’s a mom) and taught her 4 year old daughter all about our reproductive organs and what they do. So well in fact the now 6 year old regularly uses the word vulva and speaks freely about it like its any other part of her body. This gives me so much joy and hope after being raised to be ashamed and completely uninformed about the power my bodies carry.

"Children who are educated early and can name their reproductive body parts are drastically less likely to be sexually assaulted. As a woman I know the emotional, mental, and physical consequences of sexual assault and am powerfully inspired by what early sex education can mean for future generations. 

"I am celebrating this shift with these works, I am celebrating our progress. (I’m also highly entertained by this series) It may feel slow but we keep moving forward and that determination is the backbone of our movement demanding equity, autonomy, and respect. We have a long way to go but our growth is exponential, especially when we raise strong and informed children who become thoughtful and consenting adults." –Ann Lewis

Ann Lewis is a multidisciplinary activist artist using painting, installation, and participatory performance in our public spaces to explore themes related to American identity, power structures, and justice. Her work interrogates power imbalances such as mass incarceration, police brutality, and the desecration of women’s and trans rights. Ann’s data-driven art uses concept-specific materials to reflect facts in these apocryphal times. After receiving her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin she has shown at the Obama White House, and her mural See Her received an Americans for the Arts 2018 Public Art Network (PAN) Year in Review Award. Ann’s art has been acquired by the New York Historical Society Museum and the US Library of Congress.Her work has been discussed in Hyperallergic, Artnet, Interview Magazine, The LA Times, and The Guardian. She has exhibited in solo and group shows throughout the US and abroad including shows at Petzel Gallery in New York, Seyhoun Gallery in Tehran, Iran. Her most recent work To Be Human commissioned by Duolingo spans 17,000 sq ft and instigated a dialogue producing a large public art grant supporting artists in Pittsburgh, PA.