Bilal Bikile has been curating exhibitions and cultural programming for over a decade, beginning with artist showcases and literary festivals before founding Deixis in 2020 as a curatorial project, and the gallery in 2025. His curatorial practice is rooted in what he describes as "relational curation," an approach that prioritizes the convergence of artists, audiences, and ideas over institutional formality. Rather than imposing rigid thematic frameworks, he creates conditions for dialogue, allowing exhibitions to emerge from genuine collaboration with artists and responsiveness to community needs. His work spans multiple disciplines: visual art, literature, performance, craft, and experimental media, often presented in constellation rather than in isolation. Each exhibition is conceived not as a finished statement but as an ongoing conversation, a threshold where the public encounters work that challenges, comforts, or provokes in equal measure.
At Deixis Gallery, Bikile has onboarded and exhibited over dozens of artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, curating programs that range from solo exhibitions and group shows to weekly salons and interdisciplinary dialogues. His curatorial philosophy emphasizes care and precision: he works closely with artists to refine their work approach, curate visual assets, and ensure each program feels authentic and aligned with both the artist's vision and the gallery's ethos. He approaches curation as an act of hospitality and stewardship, attending to the relationship between artist and audience with the same rigor he brings to spatial design and editorial craft. For Bikile, curation is not merely selection but orchestration: bringing together people, objects, and ideas in ways that reveal connections otherwise hidden, cultivating spaces where art becomes a site of transformation rather than passive consumption.
Deixis Gallery
2173 Logan Ave, San Diego, CA
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