New 808 Gallery Exhibition Showcases Faculty, Alumni Artwork
First shown at the 2024 Venice Biennale, Hidden in the Layers, the monthlong exhibition, celebrates BU-affiliated printmakers and photographers
New 808 Gallery Exhibition Showcases Faculty, Alumni Artwork
First shown at the 2024 Venice Biennale, Hidden in the Layers, the monthlong exhibition, celebrates BU-affiliated printmakers and photographers
A series of prints showing the human body in four different states, part of Charles Suggs’ Body Gaze series, a collection of monotypes meant to confront the viewer.
This article was originally published in BU Today on November 10, 2025. By Madyline Swearing (COM’26) Photos by Jackie Ricciardi
EXCERPT
Haunting monochrome portraits, vivid abstract art, and etchings of all kinds line the walls of the Boston University Art Galleries’ 808 Gallery as part of its latest exhibition, Hidden in the Layers. Although the printmaking techniques are varied, they all have one aspect in common: the artists are BU faculty or alumni.
Premiering during the 2024 Venice Biennale—the world’s oldest arts and architecture festival—Hidden in the Layers celebrates faculty within the College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts Print Media & Photography program, as well as alumni artists engaged in printmaking. The Venice exhibition was one of two BU-affiliated shows; the other was a showcase of work by 14 participants in BU’s Study Abroad Venice Studio Arts program.
“This is really the first show that I’ve [directly] curated at BU in the seven years that I’ve been here,” says Lissa Cramer, director of BU Art Galleries. “It was kind of an experiment for me to curate remotely in an international gallery—and then I liked the show so much that I just thought, why don’t we share it with our BU community here?”
Cramer says that while the work of all five artists is different, they’re connected through the implementation of layers, whether a physical layering of mediums or layers within the meaning of each piece.
(left) Chance Encounter: Sea Change 2025 by Deborah Cornell, a CFA professor of art, printmaking, and printmaking chair. (right) Works by Lynne Allen, a CFA professor of art, printmaking, and chair of print media and photography.
The exhibition highlights several pieces from Lynne Allen, a CFA professor of art, print making, and chair of print media and photography.; Deborah Cornell, a CFA professor of art, print making, and printmaking chair; Toni Pepe (MET’11), a CFA associate professor of art and photography chair; Joshua Brennan, a CFA lecturer in printmaking and technical associate in printmaking and photography; and Charles Suggs (CFA’20).
This is an exhibition about layers: a layering of history, a layering of touch, a layering of presence. I hope people will give the time and space needed to just spend with the work.
HIDDEN IN THE LAYERS
OCTOBER 30 – NOVEMBER 22
808 GALLERY
Hidden in the Layers showcases new work from a selection of celebrated Boston-based artists working in printmaking, photography, and new media, the exhibition reveals how layered processes can transform perception and form.