Galleries

Ten Little N̶i̶g̶g̶e̶r̶ Girls is a series of ten large-scale drawings that addresses the present-day reality of black girls in different states of danger within the American and global cultural contexts. ​The project is a retelling of the 1907 children’s book and nursery rhyme, Ten Little Nigger Girls, by Nora Case, which features a cast of ten black girls, who are each eliminated from the story one-by-one, sometimes in horrific ways (for example, one is burned alive, another is eaten by a bear).

The exhibit will also showcase two videos and an art-making performance in the gallery that will place the Ten Little Nigger Girls already installed in conversation with “New Girl,” an artwork that will be born at Rush Arts Philadelphia.

Dr. Imo Nse Imeh’s art features contemporary black girls in various states of danger, in the present-day, in the spirit of education and conversation, to examine the language, history, and realities of race in America, and the unsettling ways in which black children specifically have been imagined in the American social economy over the past century.

This project focuses on the imagination of black children–both historical and present-day concepts–in spaces of danger, primarily because of the vacuum in scholarship about the body of the black child in visual art and literature studies.

These drawings open up an important door for such a conversation to take place.

OPENING RECEPTION & LIVE ART DEMONSTRATION:
February 15th 6pm to 8pm

EXHIBIT DATES:
February 1st – March 15th

GALLERY HOURS:
Friday – Sunday 12pm to 4pm & by appointment

Souls Shot: Portraits of Victims of Gun Violence is an exhibition of work by fine artists who were paired with families of victims and created portraits to illuminate those precious lives. The mission is to bring attention to and memorialize the lives lost and tragically altered due to gun violence. The goal is to encourage the viewer to focus beyond the statistics and see the individuals and the cost of gun violence to our human community.  Portraits have the unique ability to call out the souls and profoundly affect those who see them.  The variety of mediums and approaches reflect the unique qualities of each soul depicted. 

Artists featured include: Marie Bender, Joe Brenman, Michelle Brown, Beth Carson, Jonny Castro, Jennifer Coburn, Karen Shechtman Cole, Lisa Domenic, Marge Feldman, Ann Price Hartzell, Corinne Holloway, Melissa L. Joseph, Warren Keyser, Anna Kocher, Jacqueline Lewis, Laura Madeleine, Helen Mangelsdorf, Nathalie Miller, Laura Orfanelli, Rachel Reinfurt, Karen Ruggles, Monique Sarkessian, Austin Crenshaw Shelley, B. Douglas Smith, Lauren Vargas, Oscar Vance, Keisha Whatley and Greg Woodring.

Rush Arts Philadelphia- 4954 Old York Rd, Philadelphia, PA 19141

Opening Reception

Rush Arts is proud to present:

I Kan Do Dat
Are You Sure You Can Do That?! Guess what? If you could have done that, you would have done that.

1 Show!
2 Galleries | Rush Arts Philadelphia & Upper Darby Art Gallery
24 Artists
STRAIGHT UP ABSTRACT ART!
Curated by Danny Simmons & Noah Smalls

Rush Arts Philadelphia Exhibition Dates – 4954 Old York Rd, Philadelphia, PA 19141
Opening Reception- March 30th, 2019 6-9pm
Exhibition Dates- March 29th, 2019 – May 3rd, 2019

Upper Darby Art Gallery Exhibition Dates- 26 Park Ave, Upper Darby, PA 19082
Opening Reception- April 6th, 2019 6-9pm
Exhibition Dates- March 29th, 2019 – May 3rd, 2019

Featured Artists:

Kara Mshinda
Lance Johnson
Sarah Hall
Alma Roberts
Greta Chapin-McGill
Al Johnson
Grace Graupe Pillard
Cullen Washington Jr
James Chism
Robert Smalls
Wanda Art Payne
Juan Gomez
Al Santana
Lisette Morel
Sheena Vaughn
Joe Bell Bey
Jerome China
Gina Samson
Femi J. Johnson
Bryant Small
Miriam Brumer
Dawn Stringer
Dakoro Edwards

Rush Art Galleries is proud to debut Faculty, a new exhibition that presents the work of Washington, D.C. artist collective, Delusions of Grandeur. Through a lens of critical intellectualism and psychic vision, the six artists who form the collective, Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Shaunté Gates, Stan Squirewell, Amber Robles-Gordon, Wesley Clark, and Larry Cook use their powers of ancestral memory to render symbols of communal black instincts within contemporary art in the new millennium. The ability to hear and bridge ancient history with the present and that which does not yet exist, drive the artists to capture transcendental ideas, cultural iconography and the everyday masses of people seeking to survive and transform the current political, social and economic landscape which threatens human beings. The works in the exhibition draw the viewer into fantasy paintings interspersed with digital photography, mixed media portraits, conceptions of human energy beginning with binary code, and a standing installation of lost and found objects to create new storytelling patterns and provide hopeful change in black culture and community.

Delusions of Grandeur came together to articulate difficult conversations of race, class, social access and community through a shared commitment and desire for making new texts out of visual concepts. Wesley Clark constructs fictional artifacts, which he ‘antiques’ from an ability to ‘see’ beyond current belief systems of what is beautiful and conventional. With White neon lettering glowing upon a black backdrop that says, “Some of my best friends are black.” Larry Cook questions if that’s the case by asking the viewer to understand black culture and identity from a place of agency and nonlinear time. In Shaunté Gates’ surreal dream affects grounded in reality based photography, the color red repeats itself in remembrance of fire and sacrifice. Jamea Richmond-Edwards portraits of black women are at once ethereal and bold. Using ink and graphite, featuring bright faux couture patterns made of paper, sequins and textiles against black space, the faces come alive in the frame imploring the viewer to return their gaze and listen to the story being told through the women’s piercing eyes. Light, rich color combinations of yellows, reds and blues weave the concepts of feminine and masculine energy to mine the healing terrain of holistic power sources found in Amber Robles Gordon’s work. The science of 1’s and 0’s known as binary code informs Stan Squirewell’s exploration of birth and repetition of three-dimensional vision and sound through standing installations.

The sites of inquiry used by the artists place logical reasoning and sixth sense intuition at the center of shifting dialogue and perceptions of what black culture and community have been and what it’s becoming. Each artist, in turn, puts Faculty at the forefront of thought design, adding another layer of language to the current codes of blackness and representation.

Faculty will run from February 22^nd through April 5^th, 2018 at Rush Arts Gallery (located at 526 West 26^th Street, Suite 311, New York, NY 10001). An opening reception will be held on Thursday, February 22^nd, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

With support from Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, Giving Up The Ghost: Artifacts/A Study of Power and Solidarity Against White Violence in Modernity curated by Niama Safia Sandy will open at Rush Arts Philadelphia on January 27, 2018. Giving Up The Ghost is an assemblage of multimedia art objects that challenge and explore the very tangible, non-ephemeral effects of American exceptionalism and whiteness as they appear in the living history of the modern world. The exhibition will run from January 27 through February 24, 2018 at Rush Arts Philadelphia (located at 4954 Old York Road in Logan). An opening reception will be held on Saturday January 27, 4:00-7:00 p.m. An artist talk will be held on Saturday, February 17 at 4:00-6:00 p.m. Gallery hours are Wednesday – Saturday, 12:00 -6:00 p.m. and by appointment.

The exhibition features artists from a range of backgrounds and disciplines including: Lavett Ballard, Tasha Dougé, Sara Jimenez, Asif Mian, Rocío Olivares, Tajh Rust and Lionel Frazier White. The works in this show seek to proclaim the truth and validity of the experiences of marginalized groups in this country and its global sphere of influence. Sara Jimenez’s textual sculptures pull from the legacy of American colonization of the Philippines and Puerto Rico highlighting the subsequent effects on the indigeneity of the native populations. The works of Lavett Ballard and Tasha Dougé parse through our historical aversion to recognizing the importance Black American labor (that of Black women in particular) to the very corporeal, economic and political pillars of this country. Asif Mian’s installation is in direct response to the current president’s virulent anti-Muslim policies and a general commentary on the place of violence in modern society.

“It is not lost on us that this exhibition is opening just over a year to the day since the country was pitched into a period of unprecedented political and cultural turmoil. The work in the show endeavors to examine the undercurrents that allowed for the events of the last year (and well beyond) to be put into motion. This is not an attack on white people or any other group. We are collectively acknowledging that we are unmoored (and have been for quite some time) from the ideals purported to be the foundational aspects of our democracy. To heal and move forward as a nation, we must let go of the ideas that do not match who we say we are and earnestly investigate what has been done in our name as citizens of this country.” curator Niama Safia Sandy explained.

This engagement is Sandy’s curatorial debut in Philadelphia, and second project with Rush Arts.

Opening Reception: Sunday, January 21st, 2018 4-6PM

Corridor Gallery is proud to present CONNECT…, a solo exhibition featuring the works of Allie Wilkinson. Residing in Brooklyn, New York, Allie has exhibited across the United States. Her works focus on people and the experiences we share —specifically, the ways in which we hide ourselves from each other, despite an innate and profound desire to connect. Working with translucencies and layering, Allie pairs these elements with intricate graphite drawings; the layered effect transforms each work into visual hazes of organic portraiture. Through this technique, she is able to convey the messy, strange, transcendent, and luminous experience of being.

CONNECT… is an exploration of both our uniqueness and our same-ness. Every face is different, and yet we have a shared genetic makeup. Every life is distinct, and yet we all experience, fear, love, and desire. These works search out the beauty to be found in this contrast.

Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation (RPAF) and PrintbyPrint LLC are proud to announce the opening of An Ode to Healing: A Poetic Exhibition for those in Recovery. Curated by Minkie English, this exhibition will be at Corridor Gallery, located at 334 Grand Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238.

As we journey through life we are forced to face, or hide, our wounds. Our traumas, which are the results of physical and psychopathological phenomena threatens our mind, body, and spirit—our wholeness and existence—leaving us unbalanced, even on a cellular level.

Healing is about connectivity, physically and/or meta-physically. It is our reconciliation of our ephemeral and unforgiving reality. Healing and its complexities can be arduous at times and undeniably poetic during others. It is an ode to our existence and our presence in the here-and-now. Like an ode, healing is an exalted and inspiring journey guided intensely by emotions. It is the light that enters the wound, ‘fostering positive opportunities for self-knowledge, growth and resilience’.

An Ode to Healing: A Poetic Exhibition for those in Recovery is a lyrical poem for those in recovery from the challenges they are forced, and/or choose, to face; recognizing and celebrating the process of achieving wholeness. Seven artists—four visual artists and three performance artists—whose work has continued to uplift and heal others are featured in this exhibition. They are visual artists John Pagliaro, Steven Cogle, Kelly Niceley, Allie Wilkerson, and Mona Kamal; and performance artists Damali Abrams, Brittany Williams and Tsedaye Makonnen.

An opening reception will be held on Sunday, January 21^st, 2018 at 4-6pm. Corridor Gallery is open Sundays 12-6pm and by appointment.