Find Us on the Map! is an exploration of recurring themes in contemporary visual culture in Africa. Through people, places, and plural identities, the artists capture and create narratives that are factual, fictional, and occasionally hyper surreal, and leave the audience room to investigate them. The works of the featured artists encourage, and even demand, the audience to Find Us on the Map!, in accordance with the title of the exhibition. Whilst there is now a widespread awareness that Africa is not a country, are we better informed about this vast geographical entity? We may be able to name a few countries within Africa but can we find them on a map?
As the art historian, artists and curator Chika Okeke-Agulu said just last year: Folks can’t seem to come to terms with the fact that African artists have now taken and secured their seat at the dinner table, invited or not! With works of art from Africa receiving long deserved acclaim from museums, curators, and collectors, finding these places on the map becomes a prerequisite for us to be allowed to sit at the table with them. As we begin to develop our understanding of art created on the continent beyond the antiquated, overarching, and superficial title of “African art”, we seek additional information that gives us clues about society, economy, religion, and love in African countries. The exhibition includes a map that graphs “the most Googled for object” in each country and whilst Nigeria’s most Googled term is “weddings”, we see very different results in North, East, and South Africa. This is just a small piece of information that informs the practice of artists in these countries.
These artists and their stories inform and illuminate our understanding. Works by Jenevieve Aken, Joana Choumali, Colin Delfosse , Logo Olumuyiwa and Nobukho Nqaba, exemplify the intimate and synchronized dance of the factual and fictional in contemporary African photography. As we create a story and plotline for Aken’s haunting albeit glamorous character, a creation myth for Choumali’s Awoulaba mannequins, an arena for Delfosse’s wrestlers to rumble in , an audience for Olumiyiwa’s Lagos aesthetes, and a consumer base for Nqaba’s newest all-purpose textile, the exhibition allows room for playfulness but also deeper contemplation of the role of photography and the access provided through the lens and in turn through the photographs.
The show additionally features work from Cyrus Kabiru, Ima Mfon, and Andile Buka. Kabiru’s production of futuristic spectacles wrought from day to day materials has been a staple of the artist’s body of work and continues to serve as a commentary on Afrofuturism and design. Mfon’s Nigerian Identity series tackles the ever-false stereotype of a homogenized blackness while Buka takes a more comical approach to identity in Satirist Sports.
These works collectively repudiate preconceived notions of an Africa with a single story. Simply knowing that a work was created in Africa is no longer enough, and the curated selection is evidence as to why that is.
Taking a more historical approach, photography was initially used in Africa to engage audiences with a place that at the time was a complete fantasy. African art, objects, dress, people and lifestyles were photographed as a means to inform us of the otherness of Africa. These fantasies of Africa, based on very real objects, artworks, and peoples in the past, were the foundational introduction to a continent of 54 independent countries and more than 3,000 ethnic groups. Today, the concept of fantasy is reclaimed and repurposed to narrate stories and engage viewers in innovative ways. Can you find us on the map?
About LagosPhoto: Launched in 2010, LagosPhoto is the first and only international arts festival of photography in Nigeria. In a month long festival, events include exhibitions, workshops, artist presentations, discussions, screenings, and large scale outdoor prints displayed throughout the city with the aim of reclaiming public spaces and the general public with multifaceted stories of Africa. LagosPhoto presents a contemporary and historical visual essay of the continent to both a local and global audience.
LagosPhoto has established a community for contemporary photography, which unites local and international artists through images that encapsulate individual experiences and identities from across all of Africa. LagosPhoto presents and educates about photography as it is embodied in photojournalism, the exploration of historical and contemporary social issues, the sharing of cultural practices, and the promotion of social programs.
About African Art Foundation: LagosPhoto is organized by the African Artists’ Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and development of contemporary African art. Established in 2007 in Lagos, Nigeria, African Artists’ Foundation aims to encourage the highest standard of art in Africa. African Artists’ Foundation serves a significant role in art and academic communities through organizing art exhibitions, festivals, competitions, residencies, and workshops with the aim of unearthing and developing talent, creating societal awareness, and providing a platform to express creativity. By providing assistance to professional and emerging artists in Africa and support to international exhibitions and community outreach programs, African Artists’ Foundation views the contribution to a strong cultural landscape in Africa as a transformative element in driving social change.
Migration Through Printmaking
Visual art exhibit on display March 13th to April 17th 2016 at Corridor Gallery features Francks F. Décéus, Ellen Coleman Izzo, Mishele Lesser, and Jennifer Mack-Watkins, and Mary Westring. Curated by Sami Mordecai Elderazi.
Brooklyn, NY- Rush Philanthropic arts Foundation is pleased to present Migration Through Printmaking a visual art exhibition showcasing the impact of migration on people, society and the world – March 13th through April 17th at Corridor Gallery (334 Grand Ave, Brooklyn, NY). Francks F. Décéus, Ellen Coleman Izzo, Mishele Lesser, Jennifer Mack-Watkins, and Mary Westring all contemporary printmakers explore the concept of migration– whether it means to escape, to search, or to explain a social issue.
Migration is a part of the human story form our vary biology. Mishele Lesserexamines the DNA journey that we carry within us, and reveals the closeness of humanity. Current events are causing huge movement of displaced people in the Middle East. Mary Westring looks at the current refugee issues from Syria and its effects on our global collective conscience. Francks F. Décéus uses his experience as a refugee from Haiti in his work, and balances the cultural values of his new and former home. Ellen Coleman Izzo looks at the homeless population relocated out of sight as a migration, and a challenge some cities face. Jennifer Mack-Watkins looks at the journey of African Americans from the segregated south to the north, as a migration.
RUSH PHILANTHROPIC ARTS FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES “THE BUTTON SHOW”
Visual Art Exhibit, on Display January 21-March 12, 2016, Features Clothing Buttons Reimagined and Repurposed in Contemporary Art
New York, NY (December 22, 2015) — Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation and Souleo Enterprises launch “The Button Show” – a visual art exhibition highlighting the medium and representation of clothing buttons in contemporary art – January 21 through March 12, 2016 at Rush Arts Gallery (526 West 26th Street, Suite 311, New York, NY 10001). On display are the works of 11 artists who each work with buttons either as the dominant medium or a featured element in their sculpture, photography and wearable artworks. Participating artists include veteran ‘button artists’ Amalia K. Amaki, Beau McCall and Lisa Kokin.
“We are excited to present this exhibition as it relates to our mission of highlighting emerging artists and curators whose work is underrepresented in the commercial art field. The visual art presented here is an opportunity to highlight a medium that has not been fully recognized for its artistic value,” said Gallery Director Charlotte Mouquin.
An opening reception will be hosted at Rush Arts Gallery on Thursday, January 21, 6-8 pm. During the exhibition’s duration the gallery will host an “Artist Talk” on Saturday, February 20, 4-6 pm. The panel discussion will explore the history of buttons and their relationship to the visual arts with select exhibiting artists, clothing button experts and moderator Peter “Souleo” Wright, the exhibit’s curator. All events are free and open to the public.
“I am proud to help highlight the medium of clothing buttons in visual art,” Souleo added. “Clothing buttons occupy a familiar but seemingly insignificant presence in our lives. Each artist forces us to reimagine this everyday object as a viable tool for communication and self-expression through visual art. In these works, buttons become signifiers of issues of class, politics, race, beauty and personal narratives in ways that are visually stimulating and highly engaging.”
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Alexis Garrett Stodghill, Amalia K. Amaki, André St. Clair, Beau McCall, Camilla Taylor, Hannah Battershell, Io Palmer, Lisa Kokin, Petros Chrisostomou, Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Tavet Gillson
About the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation
Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation was founded in 1995 in New York City by media mogul Russell Simmons and his brothers, artist and activist Danny Simmons and Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons, and committed to bettering the lives of underserved inner-city youth through meaningful exposure to the arts and hands-on art education programs, and to as providing professional support to artists at the beginning of their careers, mostly artists of color. The Rush Gallery Program provides open calls, residencies, professional support and exhibition opportunities to artists and curators focusing on those that are emerging and frequently marginalized, especially artists of color, by the commercial art field. Rush’s rich 20 year exhibition history has exhibited nearly 2,000 artists and aided in supporting the careers of artists.
About Souleo Enterprises, LLC
Souleo Enterprises creates and produces entertaining and informative events, media and artistic projects. As a journalist he has written for Newsweek, Ebony, New York Press, Black Enterprise, XXL, Sister 2 Sister, and Rolling Out. He’s also been featured on CNN’s The Nancy Grace Show, MTV’s FNMTV Premieres, Access Hollywood and The Insider, and in the New York Post, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Boston Globe, BET.com, and Match.com. Souleo recently created the column “On the ‘A’ w/ Souleo” which is now syndicated online across several media properties including Huffington Post, EBONY.com, SoulTrain.com, New York Amsterdam News,
and Rolling Out. In partnership with the New York Public Library, he produces LGBT, financial literacy and creative programming. As a curator, his notable exhibitions include “eMerge: Danny Simmons and Artists on the Cusp,” the first-ever AARP exhibition “Lasting Legacy: The Journey of You,” Harlem’s unprecedented multi-gallery collaborative exhibition “Motown to Def Jam,” and the visual art debut of Melvin Van Peebles in “eMerge 2.0: Melvin Van Peebles and Artists on the Cusp.” In 2014, Souleo curated an exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of Ntozake Shange’s “for colored girls…” at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. In 2015, “Stax: Visions of Soul” at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music marked his curatorial debut in a museum.
LISTINGS BLURB
In collaboration with Souleo Enterprises, the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation’s Rush Arts Gallery (526 West 26th Street, Suite 311, New York, NY 10001) features clothing buttons reimagined and repurposed in contemporary art Thursday, January 21, 6-8pm with “The Button Show.” On display will be the works of 11 artists who each work with buttons either as the dominant medium or a featured element in their sculpture, photography and wearable artworks. Participating artists include veteran ‘button artists’ Amalia K. Amaki, Beau McCall and Lisa Kokin. Programming will include an “Artist Talk” on Saturday, February 20, 4-6 pm with select exhibiting artists, clothing button experts and moderator Peter “Souleo” Wright, the exhibit’s curator. All events are free and open to the public.
RUSH PHILANTHROPIC ARTS FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES “Fraught Imaginaries”
Visual Art Exhibit, on Display January 10th – February 21st 2016, at Corridor Gallery features Karmimadeebora McMillan and Alexandria Smith curated by Charlotte Mouquin.
Brooklyn, NY — Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation is pleased to present Fraught Imaginaries a pivotal two -woman art exhibition discussing being a contemporary African American Artist in America today – January 10th through February 21st 2016 at Corridor Gallery (334 Grand Ave, Brooklyn, NY). Karmimadeebora McMillan and Alexandria Smith both use bold senses of color and images from personal histories that compliment one another into a graceful dialog.
Karmimadeebora McMilan, a recent MFA graduate of SMFA Boston and part time professor, grew up in North Carolina. Her Southern childhood influences her current painting through brightly colored fragmented quilted landscapes combined with characters from the racist propaganda she has come to know. The large canvas Away We Go from 2013 exemplifies this with the introduction of Ms. Merri Mack. This character renamed by the artist from “Miss Mary Mack” is a recurring theme, and still used as a lawn decoration in rural southern regions. In more recent paintings McMilan is also incorporating cartoon cut outs from The Black Panther Coloring Book. The Black Panther Coloring Book, released in 1968 by the FBI, was sent to white families across America as propaganda to discredit the Black Panthers. Among the paintings are brightly painted vertical strips that are both on the wall and in the gallery space. These pieces compliment the paintings and bring the themes and subjects within the canvas off the wall and into our reality. This is Karmimadeebora McMilan’s first exhibition with Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation.
Alexandria Smith, a recent resident at Skowhegan and recipient of The Fountainhead Residency, holds an MFA from Parsons and an MA from NYU. Smith responds to racial and cultural differences throughout American history with her personal autobiography through her characterized personal narratives and shifting landscapes. In Fraught Imaginaries Smith has created her largest wall installation to date titled Don’t Let me be Lonely. The character depicted is stuck between reality and the sublime evoking the current state of society “in which love and hope are waging war against hate and injustice.” Smith, a past Rush Teaching Artist and Artist in Resident at Rush Arts Gallery, was the recent recipient of the Virginia A Myers Fellowship at the University of Iowa where she focused on printmaking. Also on view at Corridor Gallery are some of Smith’s first monoprints, which continue the exploration of her characters and their shifting realities in the oeuvre of her body of work.
Fraught Imaginaries reflects the tense and burdened reality in mind of being a contemporary working African American female Artist in today’s society. Looking at the realities of America’s complicated, racist, and male dominated history the truth can be a difficult thing to face. Meet the artists at the Opening Reception on Sunday January 10th from 4-6pm at Corridor Gallery, 334 Grand Ave, Brooklyn, NY.
RUSH PHILANTHROPIC ARTS FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES:
Women Are Not Seeking Your Validation
Visual Art Exhibit, on Display January 10th – February 21st 2016, Solo exhibition with Tatyana Fazlalizadeh at the Corridor Gallery Project Space
Brooklyn, NY — Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation is pleased to present Women Are Not Seeking Your Validation a solo exhibition spotlight on the work of Tatyana Fazlalizadeh January 10th through February 21st 2016 at the Corridor Gallery Project Space (334 Grand Ave, Brooklyn, NY.) Tatyana Fazlalizadeh makes a stand for women’s rights and speaks out about violence against women though her wheat pastes and oil paintings.
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, from Oklahoma and with a BFA from the University of the Arts in Philidelphia, is currently a Brooklyn based painter. Women Are Not Seeking Your Validation is an extension of her project “Stop Telling Women to Smile” which began in 2012 addressing gender based street harassment through Street Art. Since 2012 she has received national attention in The New York Times, Forbes 30 Under 30, Elle this is 30, Brooklyn Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture, the Huffington Post, and more.
Moved by the injustices against women that happen both on and off the street, Fazlalizadeh has collected stories from women and trans women both locally and around the country. In the exhibition Women Are Not Seeking Your Validation in the Corridor Gallery Project Space, Fazlalizadeh exhibits a combination of wheat pastes that are usually seen in the public gallery of street art and traditional oil painted portraits that are accompanied by quotes from her subjects. The women portrayed in these paintings are real women that are sharing personal stories about their lives and perspectives. Fazlalizadeh honors and uplifts these women and stories by capturing them in these classically beautifully painted portraits.
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh will also be releasing a limited edition zine during Women Are Not Seeking Your Validation. The opening Reception is Sunday January, 10th 4-6pm at Corridor Gallery 334 Grand Ave, Brooklyn, NY. Her work is also featured in the Rush 20th Anniversary Print Portfolio that was released by Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation in December of 2015. For more information please contact Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation.
Xenobia Bailey
The Conjure Woman, 2015
Printed Silkscreen
11 x 14”
RUSH20: 1995-2015
THE RUSH 20TH ANNIVERSARY PRINT PORTFOLIO
20 works. 20 artists: one for each year of our exhibition history.
Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation is proud to announce a new, limited edition print portfolio marking the 20th Anniversary of Rush and its programs. The portfolio presents exclusive prints of works by 20 artists, one representing each year of our exhibition history from 1995-2015. The portfolio will be previewed in an exhibition and public opening at Corridor Gallery (334 Grand Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11238) on November 15th from 4-6:00 PM and will travel with Rush Arts Galleries to SCOPE Miami Beach on December 1-6th, 2015.
Artists in the Rush 20th Anniversary Print Portfolio:
Derrick Adams
Xenobia Bailey
Aisha Tandiwe Bell
Michael Paul Britto
Cecile Chong
Brandon Coley Cox
Renee Cox
Florine Demosthene
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh
Heather Hart
Carl Hazlewood
Wayne Hodge
Duron Jackson
Ojo Jide
Kalup Linzy
Wardell Milan
Shinique Smith
Bayete Ross Smith
Jennifer Mack Watkins
Amanda Williams
The artists for the project were selected by author, curator, art historian and Harvard University professor Sarah E. Lewis. The portfolio was produced by the Lower East Side Printshop, New York’s premier non-profit printmaking studio, under the auspices of Master Printer Erik Hougen.
Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation was founded in 1995 in New York City by media mogul Russell Simmons and his brothers, artist and activist Danny Simmons and Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons, and committed to bettering the lives of underserved inner-city youth through meaningful exposure to the arts and hands-on art education programs, and to as providing professional support to artists at the beginning of their careers, mostly artists of color.
The Rush Gallery Program provides open calls, residencies, professional support and exhibition opportunities to artists and curators focusing on those that are emerging and frequently marginalized, especially artists of color, by the commercial art field. Rush’s rich exhibition history of nearly 2,000 exhibited artists include important early, pivotal exhibitions by, as just a few examples, Kehinde Wiley, Wangechi Mutu, Simone Leigh, Hank Willis Thomas, Dread Scott, Sanford Biggers, Renee Cox and more. The 20th Anniversary Print Portfolio both commemorates this vital artistic history, and captures Rush’s ongoing, energetic support of bold new artwork that will reach new audiences.
The portfolio features 20 works, most newly created for the portfolio; each black and white print is 11×14 inches in an edition of 120 signed and numbered.
_________________
Rush20: 1995-2015
November 15th – December 20th at Corridor Gallery. Public opening reception will be held on Sunday, November 15th from 4-6:00 PM.
December 1st to December 6th at Rush Arts Galleries booth #F11 at SCOPE Miami Beach 2015
Pricing, Availability, Images, interviews and more information are available on request.
Contact:
Ms. Oshun D. Layne
Manager, Exhibitions and Programs
(w) 718-230-5002
olayne@rushphilanthropic.org
Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation announces Power, Protest, and Resistance: The Art of Revolution
A powerful multi-venue exhibition featuring over 100 diverse artists
NEW YORK-Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation is proud to announce the opening of this fall exhibition season’s most challenging and powerful event, Protest, Power and Resistance: The Art of Revolution. The exhibition is curated by the co-founder of Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation Danny Simmons and up-and-coming curator Oshun Layne. Encompassing three non-profit venues throughout New York City and the work of nearly 100 of the boldest and most diverse artists working today, worksin virtually every medium will represent the power of the visual form in connecting with political, social and cultural movements. This much-anticipated exhibition opens September 24th at our Rush Arts Gallery in Chelsea, September 25th at the Skylight Gallery at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza, and September 17th at the Salena Gallery on the Brooklyn Campus of LIU.
Each venue’s exhibition will include a range of public programs and events, all available for free to the public, including but not limited to artist talks, performances, screenings, panel discussions and programs for young people.
Of the exhibition theme, Co-curator Danny Simmons explains, “Power, Protest, and Resistance: The Art of Revolution, is an exhibition designed to push the viewers to not only engage the work but to engage what is beneath the surface. Why is there such a growing rift among people and the forces that seek to impose governing on them? How do we change or remove an authority that is not responsive to the needs of the people? What is power? Who has it? And how is it used to change things for the better for everyone? With nearly 100 artists participating, this exhibition will act as a call to action. As we use these works of art to grapple with this subject matter, we will create a dialogue on how as a people we can change this world. Change starts in the spirits, minds, and hearts of the people and art is one of the most potent ways I know to reach those areas.”
Including the works of Cey Adams, Laylah Amatullah Barry, Michael Paul Britto, Rohan Clarke, Molly Crabapple, Sophia Dawson, Nicky Enright, Jas Knight, Jerome Lagarrigue, Kristine Mays, Pablo Mustafa, Otto Neal, Alexandria Smith, Tafa, Tim Okanura, Lisa Zhou, and many more, Power, Protest, and Resistance: The Art of Revolution is a program of the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Russell Simmons, Danny Simmons and Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons in 1995 to provide meaningful arts education experiences for underserved youth, and professional support to underrepresented contemporary artists.