There’s something seriously buzzing right now at The Lobby x The Writers’ Block, and it’s not about size or spectacle. It’s about line, rhythm, and pure, unfiltered thought.
We’re talking about the flat works of Lonnie Holley, and honestly? They’re hypnotic.
These works feel like live transmissions. Not overworked, not overthought, just straight from the source.
In From the Lines of Brain, It Starts with the Blood and Ends with the Water, you can practically see thought in motion. Lines twist, loop, and pulse across the surface, creating something that feels both microscopic and cosmic at the same time, like you’re inside a mind as it’s thinking.
And then there’s From the Roots I Am, a totally different vibe, but just as powerful. Where Lines of Brain is all movement and energy, Roots drops you into something deeper. Slower. More grounded. It’s about origin, connection, becoming. A reminder that identity isn’t fixed, it’s always growing, shifting, reaching.
And here’s where it gets really good: in a space like The Writers’ Block, all of this hits differently. Surrounded by storytelling, Holley’s marks start to feel like their own kind of language, loose, expressive, and full of feeling. It’s like reading, but with your eyes and your gut at the same time.
This isn’t work you “figure out.” It’s work you feel.
So take your time. Get close. Let it unfold.
Because with Lonnie Holley, it’s not about decoding, it’s about seeing.
Come experience these works in Seeing the What, on view now. Open Thursday through Saturday, 10–4 pm, through May 23.
Sima is the curator of The Lobby – https://ellenbrowningbuilding.com/the-lobby/