ON VIEW IN GALLERY 194
Creative Freedom: Celebrating Black History Month
Gallery 194 and CAC Hallways I January 29 - March 3, 2024
Reception: February 22, 2024 6 - 8pm
In conjunction with this year's Black History Month theme of 'African Americans and the Arts,' this exhibition will showcase and celebrate Black American artists who contribute to visual and performing arts, music, cultural and societal movements, activism, and much more.
This exhibition is on view in Gallery 194 and CAC hallways from January 29, 2024 - March 3, 2024 at Chesapeake Arts Center.
Featured Artists:
Jovan Bethel - My name is Jovan Bethel, also known as ProtèJay, who is an artist that defies the confines of traditional art forms to create captivating and thought-provoking works. Drawing inspiration from a multitude of sources and inspirations such as Gordon Parks and Jacob Lawrence, seamlessly blending elements of abstraction, surrealism, and social commentary to create visually stunning and conceptually rich compositions. I would say that my art is a reflection of an innate curiosity and desire to explore the depths of human emotion. I enjoy the use of symbolism and metaphors to add depth and ambiguity to my art, encouraging viewers to interpret their work through their own unique lens.
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VILLAGER - Nigerian-born Baltimore-based Multidisciplinary artist, VILLAGER, works using a range of mediums including acrylics, oil, oil pastel, wood, cyanotype, photo, fabrics, and textile arrangements to evoke a visual language characterized by exploring and transforming cultural energy saturated in both the material and the metaphysical. Challenging the statement, “That’s just how it is” with more human-centered questions- "How did it get to be that way" & “Does it have to be that way" VILLAGER's paintings, soft sculptures, assemblage, cyanotype prints, photographs, installations, audio-visual media, and performance art pieces, investigates humanity as a product of culture and social systems through an afro-diasporic lens. By incorporating visual and material elements from their personal experiences in both cultural landscapes of Nigeria and the US, VILLAGER endeavors to explore, scrutinize, deconstruct, and redefine the existential and paradoxical question of what it means to be a “Contemporary African.
Nia - Nia is a queer, black, non-binary, self-taught visual artist living in Baltimore City. Their love of the human body, animals, and nature, has inspired their art for the past 30+ years. Nia loves to work on large and small-scale projects creating everything from murals and original art to greeting cards and pet portraits. Nia is a co-owner of Red Emma’s Bookstore and Coffee House and also works for Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy. Through their cooperative work and their artwork, they hope to break the cycle of silenced emotions and create moments where the viewer's feelings are present, raw, transformative, and valid.
Kehinde Applewhite - Artist Statement: Kehinde Applewhite (b. 2001, Redlands, California) is a Baltimore-based textile artist whose fabric collage work serves as a visual diary for reflecting and exploring identity, ancestral roots, loss, trauma, and all aspects of being. Applewhite’s practice is centered around sentimentality and connection to textiles, paralleling the nuances of their lived experience to the material, using it as a vessel for revisiting, healing, and rewriting memories.
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Stephfea Jackson - Stephfea (Stef-fee-a) Jackson is an artist whose work is deeply influenced by the beauty and resilience of Black and other marginalized communities. She was born in Brooklyn, NY, and moved upstate to Brockport, NY at a young age. Growing up as one of a few Black families in Brockport, Stephfea developed a keen sense of empathy and compassion for those historically excluded from mainstream society. Her experiences have fueled her passion for creating art that celebrates people's strength, dignity, and humanity.
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Hailey Jordan - Hailey Jordan is a biracial, queer, scientist-turned-designer, raised by travelers, who thrives in the in-between. Her work illustrates the vibrancy of Black, Queer adventure on the frontiers of liberation– her subjects often in the midst of dance, exploration, bliss, abundance. To design and live with joy is Hailey’s way of honoring her ancestors and carving space for the Black, Queer imagination in generations to come.
Candice Tavares - I am a self taught woodworker and illustrator. My work primarily focuses on the use of portraiture to celebrate the beauty and diversity of Black bodies, Black love and culture. My desire is to uplift my community and encourage positive reflection on blackness in America by creating emotionally captivating images that highlight the way we love each other and ourselves. My work amplifies the strong family bonds, unconditional love, creativity, support, collective activism and spiritually that have defined my experience as a Black woman in America. I use a variety of wood stains and species to reflect the many variations of tone and complexion created when light hits brown skin. I believe allowing the natural grain of the wood to shine through in the finished piece is a powerful nod to the natural beauty of the subjects that I am depicting. Every piece of wood has it’s own unique set of knots, waves and irregularities but those variations are part of what makes my art beautiful.
Adewale Alli - Adewale Alli is a self-taught Nigerian visual artist based in Baltimore, Maryland. His work is a profound exploration of materiality intertwined with the eloquent language of color. Each piece he crafts is a chapter in his ongoing odyssey into the vast spectrum of being, capturing not only the splendor and intensity of existence but also delving into the enigmatic truths that elude our comprehension.
Joy Nutt - My paintings are a celebration of traditional geometric quilt patterns and expressive collaged crazy quilts. Interest in this artistry stems from childhood memories of watching my Trinidadian relatives sew. The rich tradition of West African ankara fabric design also influences my work. Each crazy quilt painting starts with blended areas of color. Various shapes are added to establish a sense of movement. The black outline separates sections and emphasizes the path around the canvas. Found objects are used to add patterns and texture, and markers add details. The implied gold stitching within the black lines completes the piece. Each geometric piece starts with shapes of color to establish a block pattern. The same process is used to create layers and they come together neatly to mimic fabrics sewn together. My desire is for viewers to reflect on the complexity of quilts and textiles and the fond memories that they evoke.
Lauren J. Turner - I’m Lauren J. Turner, and I’m thrilled to have you join me on an artistic journey that’s all about sparking conversations around parenting and reshaping how we perceive it. Parenthood is truly magical, and my art celebrates those extraordinary moments while shedding light on the often-overlooked aspects of the Black parenting experience that the media tends to miss.
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Hope & Faith McCorkle - D.C.-born, Hyattsville raised twins Eleisha Faith & Tonisha Hope McCorkle hold BFA’s from NYU in Studio Art. Formerly enrolled in the Visual and Performing Arts program at the Jim Henson School of Arts, Media, and Communication, the two have been cooking and curating, studying, and creating art since they were 7 years old. At 17, the twins lost their mother to the rare lung condition of Sarcoidosis. Since then, the two have used their art as a space of healing, creating immersive experiences that engage with loss, grief, and identity, coming together to form an interdisciplinary collaborative. Their work speaks to their profound relationship as twins, conceptualizing their endured shared experiences, yet different perspectives.
Depicting their experiences, their work speaks to the candid, yet uncanny truth of Black life, while simultaneously severing from a cyclical narrative deeply rooted in pain and disenfranchisement. Collard greens, hair, and faith are some relics represented in their work. Sourced from their own lives, the pair began to see their worlds collide as they grew into a new state of consciousness as one, traveling multiple dimensions in their work and conflating the ideas of reconstruction and resilience. Their work serves as a spiritual process towards completion–utilizing 2D, 3D, and 4D elements as puzzle pieces to form the bigger picture. Deconstructing materials in their practice, the dynamic duo reconstructs narratives through veracious and symbolic imagery to communicate stories of Black life, food, rituals, healing, spirituality, and magic.
Gary A. Mullen - Gary A. Mullen is a muralist and artist based in Baltimore City. Mullen fuses Cubist techniques in his unique approach to painting, creating stunning and well-defined pieces of art. His murals employ a variety of styles, drawing from a range of influences including Cubism and minimalism. He believes art should be inclusive and engaging, inviting audiences to explore and appreciate the intricacies of his work. Mullen’s works are often simple yet complex - full of layers and careful details that can be appreciated the longer one looks. With his murals, Mullen strives to evoke connection, emotion, and reflection in those who view them.
Brandon Slewion - Brandon Slewion (b 1997) is an interdisciplinary artist, educator and entrepreneur working between Toledo, Ohio and Washington D.C. Raised in the nation capital his relationship with politics, business, tourism, and inner city sports during his youth significantly affected his perspective of identity, competitive culture, and personal branding. Expanding the idea of public works and alternative education, he is redesigning the role of an artist as a role model Through his vibrant abstract paintings Slewion captures the rigorous route of entrepreneurship while keeping community above capitalism. Known for his spirited mannequin, he manufactures his destiny in the midst of manifest destiny. His performance art as a measure of progress of Black Americans within American society , Slewion advocates for control over one’s narrative.
Mark Anthony West - “My art is an immersive experience. I create full scenes designed to help theviewer escape reality or to inspire them out of depression. I base my content on my research as a historian, my travels around the world and life in Baltimore, and biblical stories. In my earlier work, I focused primarily on the face but recently, I have been focusing on creating the entire setting and using trees and lights to add life to my scenes. Stylistically, I generally paint jet black people in humanistic dramatic settings. Black is also my favorite color because no matter what color you mix with black, the color will still be black making it more powerful than the other colors. Black is the color of carbon, which is the foundation of life, and black is a color of luxury, that is why I like painting jet, black people.”
