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René Paul Barilleaux: Crafting a Curatorial Practice
April 14, 2024
René Paul Barilleaux, Chief of Curatorial Affairs at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, TX, traces the evolution of his curatorial practice over a forty-year period, including a sustained interest in everyday and craft materials and the handmade. In addition to looking back at past projects, beginning in the 1980s, Barilleaux previews exhibitions currently in development.
This talk, given on April 14, 2024, was presented in conjunction with the MOCRA exhibition Open Hands: Crafting the Spiritual.
Rene Paul Barilleaux has been a curator for 40 years, focusing especially on the work of artists outside the mainstream or at mid- and late-career. Since 2005, he has led the curatorial department at the in San Antonio, TX, where he is head of curatorial affairs. With a background in studio practice, Barilleaux’s curatorial interests lie in incorporating innovative presentation techniques to engage audiences in challenging and unexpected ways. Early years at the Museum of Holography in New York thrust him into the world of alternative and non-traditional institutions. Since then, his exhibitions and publications have won awards, including an AAMC Award of Excellence in 2020 for . Barilleaux’s curatorial approach is collaborative and allows diverse voices to construct an open and welcoming narrative for the public. A native of Lafayette, Louisiana, Barilleaux shares his life with his husband, Tim Hedgepeth, and their dog, Lucy.
In September 2022, Barilleaux participated in a MOCRA panel discussion titled “Artist, Poet, Curator: A Conversation with Lesley Dill, Tom Sleigh and Rene Paul Barilleaux.”
above:
René Paul Barilleaux
| Exhibition | |
|---|---|
| 2018-10-07 to 2018-10-14 | 
Walking in Hope: A Weeklong Celebration of the Canonization of Archbishop Oscar Romero |
| 2017-04-20 | 
“The Hand Acts Out a Joyous Dance”: Celebrating the Art of Bernard Maisner |
| 2016-09-25 | 
Erika Diettes: “Stories Told from the Threshold” |
| 2015-12-06 | 
So That You Know Each Other: Intercultural Reflections on Art, Beauty, and Islam |
| 2014-11-15 | 
John Handley: “The Religious Art of Pablo Picasso” |
| 2018-09-28 to 2018-09-29 | 
Fleur-de-Lis Floral Art Walk |
| 2014-02-23 | 
“The Economy of Gift” in Socially Engaged Art Practices: A Public Deliberation |
| 2013-10-02 | 
Art21: The Spiritual Light screening at CAM |
| 2013-03-02 | 
Rituals and Spirituality in the Performative Photographic Work of Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons |
| 2012-11-11 | 
Breaking Boundaries: A Conversation about the Art of Patrick Graham |
| 2012-05-20 | 
Stephen P. Durchslag: “The Jewish Experience and the Haggadah” |
| 2012-03-27 |
2012 Loyola Chair Lecture: “The Image of the Wounded Body of Christ and the Modern Social Consciousness” |
| 2011-10-06 |
2011 Loyola Chair Lecture: “The Pursuit of the Spirit: The Renewed Interest in the Spiritual and Religious Dimensions in Contemporary Art” |
| 2011-05-01 | 
Terrence Dempsey, S.J.: “Georges Rouault and the Art of Sacred Engagement” |
| 2010-11-15 |
Terrence Demspey, S.J.: “Creating a Religious Environment through Contemporary Art and Architecture” |
| 2010-03-28 |
Terrence Dempsey, S.J.: “The Wounded Body of Christ and the Modern Social Conscience” |
| 2009-12-01 | 
Day With(out) Art |
| 2009-11-15 | 
Michael Byron: “Cosmic Tears: Word and Image” |
| 2009-03-29 | 
Art and the Religious Imagination |
| 2008-04-15 | 
Wu Hung: “What Is Contemporary Chinese Art?” |
| 2007-10-07 | 
Celluloid Bible Classics: The Ten Commandments |
| 2007-11-04 | 
Celluloid Bible Classics: Ben-Hur |
| 2007-09-16 | 
Michael Morris, O.P.: “Moving Pictures: The Bible and Beyond” |
| 2007-03-30 | 
Peter Frank: “An Oskar Fischinger Tribute” |
| 2006-12-01 | 
Day With(out) Art |
| 2005-12-04 | 
Robert Rosenblum: “DoDo Jin Ming: An Art Historian's View” |
| 2003-09-07 | 
To Make Extraordinary: The Role of Sacred Objects in Life and Worship |
| 2002-05-04 | 
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment: A University Response |
| 2002-04-30 | 
Fred D. Gray: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment: A Study That Should Never Have Occurred |
| 2002-01-31 | 
Cloudlanders |
| 2002-01-26 | 
Thomas Sokolowski: “The Last Temptation: Andy Warhols Art as Belief” |
| 2000-11-30 | 
Day With(out) Art |
| 2001-04-06 | 
Bare Naked Statues in concert |
| 1999-04-15 | 
Two Lectures: Ellen Dissanayake and Jack Renard |
| 1999-03-27 | 
Bernard Maisner: “The Art of the Illuminator” |
| 1998-03-22 | 
Renaissance and Modern |
| 1997-11-15 | 
The Role of the Computer in Contemporary Art |
| 1997-07-24 | 
Jennifer Biddle: Body, Country, Canvas: Meaning and Identity in Central Desert Aboriginal Women’s Art |
| 1997-06-07 |
Creativity as Ancestral Mind: Living with the Ancestors |
| 1997-02-27 | 
The Artist and the Theologian Dialogue: The Body of Christ as Veiling and Unveiling the Invisible God |
| 1996-12-01 | 
Day Without Art |
| 1996-05-19 | 
The Artist as Poet: Readings by Edward Boccia |
| 1995-05-20 | 
Ian Friend: “The Edge of Belief” |
| 1995-05-04 | 
Peter Selz: “Degenerate Art” |
| 1995-02-05 | 
Lynn Hague in recital |
| 1994-11-13 |
Terrence Dempsey, S.J.: “The Spiritual in Art in the Time of AIDS” |
| 1994-12-01 |
Day Without Art |
| 1994-11-05 |
Thomas Sokolowski: “The Changing Face of AIDS” |
| 1994-11-01 |
The Amici String Quartet in recital |
| 1994-10-15 | 
Consecrations: The Spiritual in Art in the TIme of AIDS dance program and opening reception |
| 1993-10-29 | 
I Remember Alvin |
| 1993-11-05 | 
An Evening with Katherine Dunham |
| 1992-11-07 | 
The Artist and Sacred Space |