The Artist's Eye opens to the public on March 19th (Member Preview Days: March 17-18th) at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive! I am thrilled that the exhibition will finally open after postponements due to Covid.
The exhibition offers a fresh perspective on BAMPFA's permanent collection, with curated selections by artists Tammy Rae Carland, David Huffman, John Zurrier, and myself. My curated section commemorates the 50th anniversary of Betye Saar's The Liberation of Aunt Jemima, with a selection of works by a multigenerational group of Black women artists. In addition to our individually curated galleries, we will each exhibit our own work. This is my first curatorial role at a museum, and I'm also presenting new work created especially for the exhibition.
Learn more about the exhibition by visiting www.bampfa.org.
'Mugshot Portraits: Women of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (Euretta F. Adair)' on view at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture
Gifted to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture by Cheryl and Charles Ward, Mugshot Portraits: Women of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (Euretta F. Adair) is on view in Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience. The exhibition tells stories of injustice, resistance and courage—and looks at the ways in which visual art has long provided its own protest, commentary, escape and perspective for African Americans. The portrait is based on the mugshot taken after her arrest on February 21, 1956 for her role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Also presented through Smithsonian Hi—a digital museum experience that allows visitors to engage with museum objects beyond the physical museum.
'Mugshot Portraits: Women of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (Lottie Green Varner)' Included in the Mildred Lane Kemper Museum's 'The Outwin: American Portraiture Today'
Mugshot Portraits: Women of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (Lottie Green Varner) was included in the Mildred Lane Kemper Museum’s The Outwin: American Portraiture Today community-sourced audio guide, Interpreted by Dr. Treasure Shields Redmond, poet, performer, educator, public intellectual, arts organizer, and entrepreneur based in the St. Louis Metro East. The audio guide was created by St. Louis community members and Washington University colleagues to accompany the exhibition The Outwin: American Portraiture Today, on view at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum from September 10, 2021, to January 23, 2022. Reflecting the interests and insights of our community, the recordings consist of responses by eleven contributors in their own words, each addressing an artwork of their choosing from the exhibition. With a variety of approaches—formal, personal, creative, academic—these reflections democratize the interpretation of the artworks and provide multiple access points for viewing them.
2021 Virtual Ceremonial- American Academy of Arts and Letters
I am thrilled and honored to be an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award recipient along with a stellar group of architects, artists, composers, scholars and writers. A virtual ceremony takes place on Wednesday, May 19th, 2021 at 7pm. EDT.
Watch virtual ceremonial here
your concise Los angeles art guide for april 2021
Clouds of Joy, 2021
Otherwise/Revival is one of the exhibitions featured in Hyperallergic’s must see art guides for April 2021. Thanks to Matt Stromberg and Eliza Wouk Almino for including Clouds of Joy.
Otherwise/Revival at Bridge Projects, LA
Otherwise/Revival, curated by Jasmine McNeal and Cara Megan Lewis, visualizes the impact of the Black Church on contemporary artists. The exhibition opens both in person and virtually April 9th with a day long open house, including a live performance piece by Angela Bryant from 4-6pm and an online musical performance featuring Ashton T Crawley from 4-5pm on zoom. Artists include Terry Adkins, McArthur Binion, Folayemi (Fo) Wilson of blkHaUS Studios, Norman Teague of Norman Teague Design Studios (NTDS), Angela Bryant, Willie Cole, Ashon T. Crawley, Kenturah Davis, Mark Steven Greenfield, Lauren Halsey, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Letitia Huckaby, Sedrick Huckaby, Clementine Hunter, VinZula Kara, Caroline Kent, Deana Lawson, Nery Gabriel Lemus, Christina McPhee, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Dario Robleto, Lezley Saar, Zina Saro-Wiwa, Phyllis Stephens, Sara Sonié Joi Thompson-Ruffin, Genesis Tramaine, Kehinde Wiley, Brittney Leeanne Williams, and Nate Young.
Learn more about exhibition here
Click here to register for the opening
2021 Art Award Winners-American Academy of Arts and Letters
I’m thrilled to be a recipient of a 2021 American Academy of Arts and Letters Purchase Prize. Annie Patterson (2021), part of my project, Mugshot Portraits: Women of the Montgomery Bus Boycott , has been selected to be placed in the permanent collection of an American museum. Big congratulations to my fellow awardees; I’m honored to be in such stellar company. Thank you to Exhibitions and Collections Curator, Souhad Rafey, and Award Committee Members Catherine Murphy, Nicole Eisenman, Ann Hamilton, Philip Pearlstein, Judy Pfaff, Joel Shapiro, Amy Sillman, Kiki Smith, and Terry Winters. The awardees include Laylah Ali, Suzanne Bocanegra, A.K. Burns, Peter Charlap, Jennifer Coates, Lisa Corinne Davis, R.M. Fischer, Chie Fueki, Coco Fusco, Jerrell Gibbs, Lauren Halsey, Maren Hassinger, EJ Hauser, Leslie Hewitt, Reggie Burrows Hodges, Katherine Hubbard, Adam Hurwitz, Suzanne Joelson, Forest Kirk, Savannah Knoop, Aspen Mays, Thaddeus Mosley, Jennifer Packer ,Erin Riley, Aki Sasamoto, Dread Scott, Elena Sisto, Juane Quick-To-See Smith, Ming Smith, Jessica Stockholder, Simon Tosky, Elizabeth Tubergen, William Villalongo, Susan Jane Walp, Marie Watt, Peter Williams, Dyani White Hawk, and Carmen Winant. I’m honored to be in such stellar company.
Cerebral Women Art Talks Podcast Ep.58
Cerebral Women Art Talks is a wonderful platform for women creatives of color to discuss their inspiration, their process, and their experiences navigating the art world. It was great to sit down and talk with Phyllis Hollis about my work and my journey as an artist, and to be a part of the program that honors Women’s History Month.
"The Black Index" exhibition reviewed in Hyperallergic
Much appreciation to Allison Conner and Hyperallergic for this insightful review of The Black Index exhibition. The review is a fusion of historical background and contemporary critique of Black portraiture that captures the themes of the exhibition.
Lava Thomas Speaks Out: A candid interview with the artist on the saga of S.F.'s Maya Angelou monument
Much gratitude to George McCalman for our interview in his ‘First Person’ column for the SF Chronicle. With beautiful illustrations and thoughtful writing, the interview was healing and transformative, and ends a difficult chapter in this saga. Thank you, George and the SF Chronicle.
ABC 7 News San Francisco: Celebrating Black voices, Maya Angelou
Kicking off Black History Month in the Bay Area, we look back at Dr. Angelou’s life and legacy in this wonderful segment which highlights her strong ties to the community, her unwavering determination, and her many accomplishments. I was delighted to be a part of this tribute to Dr. Angelou’s extraordinary life and to discuss my monument design to honor Dr. Angelou for the San Francisco Main Library. Presented by Jobina Fortson of ABC News.
"The Black Index" exhibition reviewed in the Los Angeles Times
Great review by Lilly Nguyen on The Black Index exhibition on view at UC Irvine. Nguyen’s thoughtful writing captured Professor Bridget Cook’s sentiments on the history of visual representation of Black people beautifully.
The NEW YORK TIMES: San Francisco Reinstates Winning Design for Maya Angelou Monument
After a long journey, my monument design to honor Dr. Maya Angelou has finally been approved. I am very excited to embark on this project. It brings me great joy to now bring my idea it to fruition. Thank you to Zachary Small and The New York Times for covering this story.
Dr. Maya Angelou monument design approved by the Visual Arts Committee of the SFAC
On November 2nd, 2020, the Visual Arts Committee of the San Francisco Arts Commission finally approved the selection of my monument design for a monument to honor Dr. Maya Angelou for the San Francisco Main Library. The announcement and measures toward restorative justice are outlined in the link below.
Monument: Public Art and Protest 2020
It is such a pleasure to be invited to be conversation with artist Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle to discuss monuments in a time of political unrest. The event will be held on November 2, from 6:30-9pm PST. Many thanks to Berkeley Arts + Design Center, UC Berkeley’s Department of Art Practice and the Wiesenfeld Visiting Artist Series for making this possible.
KQED Interview
In a conversation with Brandon Yu, I discuss the current pre-election political climate. Thank you Brandon and KQED.
2020 San Francisco Artadia Award →
I am thrilled to announce that I am a 2020 San Francisco Artadia Awardee along with Marcela Pardo Ariza! Thank you, jurors, Allison Glenn, Associate Curator, Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges; Anthony Huberman, Director & Chief Curator, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art; Lucy Mensah, Clinical Visiting Assistant Professor, MUSE Program, School of Art & Art History at the University of Illinois at Chicago; and Xiaoyu Weng, Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Associate Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Thank you to Artadia, the Artadia Staff and everyone who made this happen.
The New York Times: San Francisco Apologizes to Artist Over maya Angelou Monument
This apology has been a long time coming, and it is a first step toward redress. It took a village to make this happen and I have so many people to thank; too numerous to list here. The SFAC staff, mentors and colleagues, folks who attended and spoke out during the 10/16/19, 7/15/20 and 8/3/20 meetings, folks who wrote letters, folks who advocated on my behalf, folks on various platforms who invited me to speak, folks who boycotted the 2020RFQ, journalists who kept the story alive, and my sisters at See Black Women who tirelessly organized and mobilized so that Black women can be heard and our labor respected and valued. Thank you Zachary Small and The New York Times for covering this story.
Read the Article Here.
7/9-7/21: Headlands Center for the Arts 2020 Benefit Auction
My new piece, Study for Pandemic Portrait (Mask, Negative Space), will be included in the Headlands Center for the Arts 2020 Benefit Auction. See details about the work below. The auction will be live from July 9 to July 21.
Learn more about the auction here.
Study for Pandemic Portrait (Mask, Negative Space), 2020.
Graphite, conté pencil, and watercolor on paper.
9 x 11 3/4 in.
Wednesday 7/8: "Creative Conversations: Personal to Political" - Virtual Conversation hosted by MMFA
Creative Conversations: Personal to Political, Part II
Wednesday, July 8 | 3:30 PT
Facebook Live via MMFA | Tune in Here
This Wednesday, join Radcliffe Bailey and yours truly on Facebook Live for a virtual conversation hosted by the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art. The conversation is presented in conjunction with the traveling exhibition, "Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press,” and will be moderated by Cassandra Cavness, Development Assistant at MMFA. Learn more about the event here.