Radical Art Roundup

I can't believe we're already halfway through 2019! I haven't been every good about keeping up with my blog posts, because from January to June I was working, attending grad school and doing an internship too. I may have bitten off more than I could chew. But now it's summer - I'm taking it slow and catching up on some of my more creative interests. Even though I've been busy, I did squeeze in time to see some great art, some of which I'd like to share. The common thread in each of the three group art exhibitions featured below are the strong social justice themes employed by the curators while also choosing aesthetically compelling works.

I'll start with the show I saw most recently, Radical Love at the newly opened Ford Foundation Gallery (on view June 11th through August 17th, 2019). This show curated by Jaishri Abichandani and Natasha Becker completely knocked my socks off.

"Love, in the context of this exhibition, is defined by a commitment to the spiritual growth and interconnectedness of the individual, their community, and stewardship of the planet. Guided by the powerful words of bell hooks, 'Were we all seeing more images of loving human interaction, it would undoubtedly have a positive impact on our lives.' The works in Radical Love are grounded in ideas of devotion, abundance, and beauty; here, otherness and marginality is celebrated, adorned, and revered."

Exhibiting artists: Sue Austin La Vaughn, Belle & Jeannette Ehlers, Maria Berrio, Raúl de Nieves, Omar Victor Diop, Vanessa German, Jah Grey, Baseera Khan, Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, McCallum & Tarry: Bradley McCallum & Jacqueline Tarry, Rashaad Newsome, Ebony G. Patterson, Jody Paulsen, Thania Petersen, Lina Puerta, Faith Ringgold, Athi-Patra, Ruga Nep Sidhu, Rose B. Simpson, Imani Uzuri, Lina Iris Viktor.

Another exhibit I saw recently was Race, Myth, Art, and Justice at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, curated by Grace Aneiza Ali and C. Daniel Dawson (November 15, 2018 - June 15, 2019).

"The exhibit explores intersecting ideas of race, myth, art, and justice through the lens and unique interpretations of twelve inter-generational photographers. Via innovative contemporary art practices, the photographers engage with the premise of “race” as a social construct rooted in myth, while simultaneously interrogating its profound implications and indignities on our 21st-century lives"

Featured Artists: Kwesi Abbensetts, Faisal Abdu’Allah, Terry Boddie, Jonathan Gardenhire, John E. Dowell, Jr. Adama Delphine Fawundu, Deborah Jack, Zoraida Lopez-Diago, Radcliffe Roye, Stan Squirewell, Ming Smith, Deborah Willis. Featured Writers:  Patrick Bova, Garnette Cadogan, Christopher Cozier, Tao Leigh Goffe, Claude Grunitzky, Natalie Hopkinson, Oneka LaBennett, Bárbaro Martínez-Ruiz, Pamela Newkirk, Seph Rodney, Niama Safia Sandy, and Brittany Webb.

Last but not least, I really enjoyed having the opportunity to see part of El Museo's permanent collection at Culture and The People: El Museo del Barrio, 1969-2019 (on view April 11 – September 29, 2019), curated by Susanna V. Temkin, and co-organized by Noel Valentin, El Museo’s Permanent Collection Manager.

"In celebration of its 50th anniversary, El Museo del Barrio presents Culture and the People: El Museo del Barrio, 1969-2019, a two-part exhibition featuring selections from the Permanent Collection and a timeline contextualizing the history of the institution with related archival materials. The exhibition will reflect on the institution’s activist origins and pioneering role as a cultural and educational organization dedicated to presenting and preserving Latinx and Latin American art and culture. The exhibition borrows its title from an essay penned by one of the Museum’s founders and its first director Raphael Montañez Ortíz, who outlined his concept for the institution in a 1971 article published in Art in America."

Featured artists: Adál, Ignacio Aguirre, ASCO, Myrna Báez, Diógenes Ballester, Tony Bechara, Charles Biasiny-Rivera, Tania Bruguera, Roger Cabán, Rodríguez Calero, Luis Camnitzer, Martin Chambi, Papo Colo, Felipe Dante, Margarita Deida and Piedro Pietri, Ana de la Cueva, Milagros de la Torre, Perla de León, Bartolomé de las Casas, Marcos Dimas, Nicolás Dumit- Estévez, León Ferrari, Antonio Frasconi, Coco Fusco, Carlos Garaicoa, Domingo García, iliana emilia garcía, Arturo García Bustos, Flor Garduño, Guillermo Gomez-Peña, Beatriz González, Félix González-Torres, Muriel Hasbún, Pablo Helguera, Ester Hernández, Gilberto Hernández, Carmen Herrera, Lorenzo Homar, Graciela Iturbide, Alfredo Jaar, Ivelisse Jiménez, Charles Juhász-Alvarado, Shaun “El. C.” Leonardo, Richard A. Lou, Miguel Luciano, Antonio Maldonado, Carlos Marichal, Hiram Maristany, Antonio Martorell, Héctor Méndez Caratini, Raphael Montañez Ortíz, Arnaldo Morales, José Morales, Rachelle Mozman, Francisco Manuel Oller y Cestero, Pepón Osorio, César Paternosto, Dulce Pinzón, Miguel Rio Branco, Rubén Rivera Aponte, Arnaldo Roche-Rabell, Félix Rodríguez Báez, Freddy Rodríguez, José A. Rosa Castellanos, Fernando Salicrup, Juan Sánchez, Jorge Soto Sánchez, Taller de Gráfica Popular, Rubén Torres-Llorca, Nitza Tufiño, Rafael Tufiño, Patssi Valdez, Vargas-Suárez Universal, Rigoberto Torres, and the Young Lords Party.

On Being a Volunteer for CCCADI's Grand Opening Weekend

Street Libation, blessing and procession, outside of CCCADI's new home 

A call for volunteers... 

I am currently a part of the Innovative Cultural Advocacy Fellowship with Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI). In the midst of this cycle, CCCADI put out a call for volunteers in preparation for the grand opening of their new center, a landmark firehouse smack dab in the middle of 125th Street, at the crossroads of East and West Harlem. After many years of renovations and planning, the day had finally come and they had so many amazing and fun things in store to welcome everyone into this wonderful new space. 

The grand opening... 

As a Fellow, I was happy to be invited to the private grand opening on Thursday, October 15th. It was full of VIP's, friends, family and supporters of CCCADI. It was a lovely way to get a first glimpse of the new space as well as the art exhibit installed within two floors of the firehouse (live musicians, passed hors d'oeuvres and cocktails didn't hurt either). I had already signed on to volunteer on Saturday and Sunday, so especially wanted to familiarize myself with the exhibit (where I would be stationed), Home, Memory and Future, curated by the renowned Lowery Stokes Sims along with Yasmin Ramirez, Regina Bultrón Bengoa and CCCADI founder, Dr. Marta Moreno Vega/ The overall exhibit (which will run at CCCADI through early 2017), centering on concepts of home, is presented in three parts. The first part is called "Harlem: East and West," featuring photographers Hiram Maristany, Dawoud Bey and Chester Higgins who have chronicled both East and West Harlem over the course of many years. The second is called "Harlem and Home in the Global Context" featuring contemporary works and installations in a variety of mediums, by artists Antonio Martorell, Abigail DeVille, Pepon Osorio, Whitfield Lovell, Dr. Amalia Mesa-Bains, Adrian "Viajero" Roman, Scherazade Garcia and Nicole Awai. The third part (which took place outdoors, over the weekend, and I was unfortunately not able to see) was he virtual exhibition, "Mi Querido Barrio (My Beloved Community)." This walking tour utilizes "augmented reality" technology as a walking tour focusing on site-specific pieces by local artists, TamikoThiel, Yasmin Hernandez, Adrian "Viajero" Roman, Edgardo Miranda Rodriguez, Alejandro Epifanio, Oliver Rios, Andrew Padilla, Edwin Pagan, Bianca DeJesus, Mariona Lloreta, Kearra Amaya Gopee and Michael Cordero. 

My volunteer experience... and the art... 

On my way up to Harlem on a cool but sunny Saturday, I was excited to be a part of this important event. Even though I am shy by nature, I was prepared to come out of my shell for a while and be the best volunteer I could be. When I arrived at the firehouse, I was happy to see that I was in time for the Street Libation - a beautiful blessing ceremony outside of the firehouse by Babalorisha John Mason, Iyalorisha Angela Fontanez, and Babalorisha Paulo Bispo, surrounded by a huge crowd of us who then walked in a procession all the way around the block, lead by drummers. The whole thing felt powerful and celebratory; especially with the giant "ancestor masks" - faces of Frida Khalo, Arturo Shomberg, Marcus Garvey and Julia de Burgos - floating above us. 

Once the walk was done, the festivities were all open to the public. I was stationed inside of the firehouse, but there were also a whole bunch of things going on in the outdoor lot down the block (performances, kid's art-making, face-painting and DJ battles) and across the street at Positive Workforce, a panel discussion on "Harlem's Cultural History - Uniting Communities - Cultural Spaces." 

I went up to the second floor where the art was, and I was stationed specifically in front of Abigail DeVille's installation piece, "Black Whole." [Here's an interesting description of her work around black holes, I found on Artforum.com: "Abigail DeVille’s practice is formally accumulative, occupying a space between the claustrophobia of the urban environment and the expansiveness of the universe. DeVille cultivates awareness of material culture through the collection of its discarded remnants."] Being the building was quite full of guests taking self-guided tours of the galleries, having someone near this large artwork - a wooden structure shaped like a house (that one could walk into and find materials such as glass bottles, trash cans, musical instruments and blinking strobe lights) - seemed like a good idea, if only for logistical reasons. It actually turned out to be a really interesting place to be as a volunteer, since lots of people engaged with me about the work and gave me their interpretations of it. In that way, I thought that this was a very successful, piece of art, in that people not only physically interacted with it (by going inside), so many also felt compelled to have a dialog about it and say what they thought it meant, or what it reminded them of. The ideas I heard were quite vast; everything from ideas around gentrification, displacement, homelessness to memories about Hurricane Katrina and backyards of the Southern US and the Caribbean. 

Saturday was very busy, so even though I was there for a few hours, they flew by. After the galleries closed, I was able to check in with some of my fellow ICA Fellows who were volunteering too, and I had a chance to pop over to the stage area to catch the DJ battle between Sabine and Bjoyce, which was very cool. I ran over to Harlem Shake to have a quick burger with some friends before going home and getting ready to do it all over again the next day! 

And the next day... 

Sunday I came back to Harlem, the sky was overcast and the vibe seemed to be more calm than the day before. I got to check out what was going on around the stage area: story-telling and other stuff for kids and the face-painters, who I must say were killing it with their artistic makeup skills! I was stationed inside of the firehouse to help out near Deville's piece again. It was a little less crowded, but folks were still very much engaged with the artwork. I was able to interact a little bit more throughout the whole gallery floor. Lots of people (kids and adults) came through with their faces beautifully painted too. 

In the end I was glad that I could volunteer for both days of CCCADI's opening weekend. I thought that they all did an amazing job at organizing such a multi-layered event and I was proud to have been at least one small part of history in the making. 

See some of my pics below and @Whippedhoney - and many more of all of the Grand Opening events from CCCADI at this link. 

Abigail DeVile's "Black Whole" installation at CCCADI Home, Memory and Future exhibition 

Mixed Media piece by Scherazade Garcia 

Altar installation piece by Dr. Amalia Mesa-Bains at CCCADI 

Exhibition wall text for Home, Memory and Future

Installation piece by Pepon Osorio 

Installation piece by Adrian "Viajero" Roman 

Installation piece by Adrian "Viajero" Roman 

Street Libation, procession, ancestor mark of Arturo Shomberg 

Street libation, procession, ancestor masks of Julia de Burgos, Marcus Garvey, Frida Kahlo and Arturo Shomberg

Arting Into the Afrofuture

 

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair at Pioneer Works, Brooklyn.

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog entry. Of course, I’ve gone to a bunch of art events in the meantime (because I just can't seem to stop arting!). So I decided to just do a bit of a roundup here…


On April 8th, I attended a workshop at the Queens Council on the Arts (QCA) for their LAB series, simply called Artist Solo Exhibition Preparation, given by multidisciplinary artist Shervone Neckles. The topic was of interest to me as an artist, because I had never really tried to wrap my head around what it would mean to prepare for an entire show of my own work (until now I have only participated in group exhibitions, or organized exhibits for other artists). Shervone gave a lovely presentation which touched on everything from research and preparation to organization and execution. What I liked most was that Shervone offered us a very close look at her art and process of creating a cohesive storyline which carries throughout her body of work. She even presented a work-in-progress (and asked us for feedback), a screening an animated film, “Give and Take.” Shervone was super personable, gave a well-organized presentation, and her work also happens to be fantastic (you can check it out at http://shervoneneckles.com/). On a side-note, I have been to a bunch of workshops offered by QCA (which are usually free for members and very affordable otherwise) and they have all been totally worth the while. I highly recommend (even if you don’t live in Queens!). http://www.queenscouncilarts.org/lab/


Next, on April 29th, I attended a sort-of experimental event at New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). It was called Sharing Perspectives: Reporting the impact of art internationally presented jointly by NYFA, Flux Factory and the Node Center as they invited people from the arts community to come together to have some wine and then some conversation. From what I could tell, I believe that the circle was made up mainly of visual artists. There were two specific questions posed: “How do you believe art should function?” and “What is a moment when art challenged your idea of how it should function?” We all broke out into groups to discuss our ideas for a while – it was a smart and spirited conversation. After that, one person from each group got up and reported on what their group came up with. In the end, NYFA Director, David C. Terry thanked us all and said that this was the first of what they hope to be many, expansive, international conversations around art. I was very happy to have been a part of it.


Then, on April 30th, I attended the Afrofuturism Conference 2016 #BLACKISVIRAL, at the New School. I was really interested in this conference since the term Afrofuturism is something of a buzzword that’s been popping up in so many contemporary art spaces over the last couple of years (specifically those that feature art of the African Diaspora). I was curious to see how the organizers of this event (Students of the African Diaspora at the New School) would present (and in some ways also define) this narrative. They actually had a few days worth of events lined up, but unfortunately I was only able to attend one day. In a main lobby area, they had some visual art displayed, a live painter, and even a few vendors selling their wares. I thought that this was a very nice touch in that it created a gathering space for people attending the event to relax in between the presentations. I attended one of the panels, entitled “Screaming into the Void: A Conversation on Presence and Erasure in Black Contemporary Writing” moderated by Gabrielle Octavia Butler with panelists Muna Mire, Safia Elhillo, Zeba Blay and Derica Shields. I had originally wanted to attend something about visual art, but I was more than happy to have ended up here. Myself being a writer of an older generation with a background based in print publishing, I found it fascinating to listen to these women discuss the climate of (professional) contemporary writing for primarily internet-based outlets, with its various plusses and minuses.Here is a link to the whole lineup of events: https://afrofuturism2k16.squarespace.com/


Last but not least, on May 7th, I attended the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair at Pioneer Works in Red Hook. No offense to anyone who lives in Red Hook… but holy crap. Besides the fact that Red Hook is a far-removed area of Brooklyn, add to the equation that the MTA has been ruining all of our lives with constant (evil) weekend track-work and in the end (from Queens), it took me well over two hours to reach Pioneer Works. I digress! I thought the 1-54 fair was very nicely organized in a bright, not-too-big space, not to mention the lovely back yard with concessions. I must admit that I was expecting more of the galleries represented to have been located in Africa (I believe about five out of 17 were), however, most of them were based in Europe, and some in NYC. In any case, I saw some lovely work by African artists; a few of my personal favorite works were by Aida Muluneh, Beatrice Wanjiku and Omar Victor Diop. I regret that I was not able to make it to any of the Forum panel discussions that were offered. Maybe next year. The 1-54 fair takes place annually in London and in NYC: http://1-54.com/new-york/


Oh and one last thing, after the fair on May 7th, I stopped in to MoCADA in Fort Greene for the opening reception for, Being Here… in Memory, a multifaceted exhibit featuring visual art installation, video and live dance performance curated by Marjani Forté-Saunders. Unfortunately, I arrived too late (again, the MTA’s fault!) to actually see the performance, but I was able to see the art installations, videos and say hello to my favorite couple, the Illustrious Blacks (Manchild and Monstah Black) who were hosting/DJing the party, so it wasn’t all for naught. “Being here… in Memory” runs through July 10th: http://mocada.org/


(To see more art and photos taken at these events, check out my Instagram: @Whippedhoney)

Me, Ify Chiejina, Shervone Neckles and Molaundo Jones at QCA for LAB event.

Sharing Perspectives: Reporting the impact of art internationally at NYFA

Afrofuturism Conference 2016 #BLACKISVIRAL panel Screaming into the Void: A Conversation on Presence and Erasure in Black Contemporary Writing” moderated by Gabrielle Octavia Butler with panelists Muna Mire, Safia Elhillo, Zeba Blay and Derica Shields.

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair

“Being Here… in Memory” opening at MoCADA

“Being Here… in Memory” opening at MoCADA