BIOGRAPHY
Mz. Icar, an anonymous art collective predominantly comprised of Black Women, stands at the intersection of artistic innovation and societal transformation. Our collective name, “racIzM,” spelled backward, serves as a guiding principle, symbolizing our mission to upend conventional constructs of gender and race. We recognize these identifiers as fluid concepts, deeply influenced by the nuances of time, place, and context. They are not restrictions, but rather, perspectives through which we interpret the world, explore our identities, and drive our creative journey.
Our collective is an ensemble of multi-talented artists, each specializing in distinct roles within our creative process. Among us, skilled Illustrators, Photographers, Designers, Prop Stylists, Street Artists, and Collage Artists unite with a common vision. Together, we create art that celebrates the essence of Women, the global tapestry of Blackness, and the spirit of play.
Our artistic odyssey with Mz. Icar is a kaleidoscope of projects and creations. We’ve ventured into exhibitions, murals, public installations, augmented reality-activated public art, and brand collaborations, all bearing the indelible marks of play, color, composition, and a celebration of diverse narratives. Our murals span from local treasures to international marvels, infusing vibrancy and life into public spaces. Beyond this, we’ve directed an award-winning short film, “Of Expansion,” and lent our conceptual art and art direction to Ms. Lauryn Hill’s World Tour. Collaborations with renowned brands such as Doritos, BET, and Xbox have allowed us to infuse our artistic vision into various media.
Throughout our career, we’ve participated in numerous exhibitions, including immersive installations like “Something You Can Feel” at Otherworld, Philadelphia. Our work has traveled internationally, with screenings at The Chale Wote Festival in Accra, Ghana, and recognition for “Of Expansion” as the Best Experimental Film at the Imagine This Women’s International Film Festival. We’ve also exhibited in renowned galleries and events such as Paradigm Gallery, Mint Gallery’s 8th Annual Juried Exhibition, and the German Hygiene Museum, Dresden.
We’ve shared our insights in panel discussions, such as “Veto Dreams: In the Age of Insurrection” at Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art, and participated in thought-provoking roundtable discussions on the future of art collecting, NFTs, and web 3.0.
Our contributions to the arts have been recognized through grants from organizations like the Canada Arts Council, fellowships such as the Philadelphia Mural Arts Black Fellowship, and prestigious residencies like the Fitler Club Artist Residency.
Our art has transcended traditional boundaries, making its mark on streets and public spaces, from Green Bay, WI, to Erie, PA. We’ve created captivating murals, each carrying a unique narrative. Our public art is included in the City of Boston’s Collection and Green Bay’s Collection, and our work has included engaging installations, augmented reality, and projection-mapped animations that bring public spaces to life.
SALUTATIONS & PURPOSE
Hi and Hello nice to internet meet you. We are Mz. Icar. Sometimes we are one person sometimes we are many. Usually we are anonymous, like a more soulful, feminine Banksy. We are connoisseurs of arrangement. We arrange and rearrange light, color, materials, things, history and paradigms. Our goal is to make engaging work that is accessible to everyone or at least most people we strongly believe that art is not limited to galleries nor museums and creativity is for everybody to engage in, share and enjoy. We strive to make work that can be enjoyed by many. Content, context and location is important to us.
We also believe that our current value structure needs to be reshaped. We believe that we should restructure ideologies of exchange and commerce. We need to be the architects of a model that benefits us we are not the minority we are the majority and need to move in that space. We are striving to create exchange structures that benefit us, support balanced lives and provide us with places to live and tools to make. Which in turn means a dismantling of the current capital exchange or at least the soft unraveling.
The architecture of the old structure was completely off. There’s no way that we could thrive in that particular structure. It is a structure that is created on stolen land stolen labor stolen resources and inequitable practices. 18 of the United States presidents owned people. This means that our current Constitution and manifesto of law was created by people who didn’t see other people as people. How could that system ever be beneficial to the descendants of the slaves, to women who are not allowed to participate and to the people that had their land stolen from them? This system needs to be completely revamped. We have decided not to continue to move through this current structure as it will only yield the same oppressive and imbalanced results.
We believe that art creativity and love have the ability to reach spaces that other things can’t. We will use those tools to create our new structure and experiment with alternative exchange systems.
We believe that all great ideas and evolutions are on the backs of other ideas concepts and thoughts. We believe that we determine the value and relevance of things we create. We set the platform for what is a commodity and what isn’t. If we have this strength then we should also be able to set the terms in which these commodities are exchanged. We do not believe in a debt structured society. we do not believe in an interest structured society.
We believe that connectivity is more valuable than capitalism. And we will be moving from the space… everything is negotiable.
We are committed to occupying public spaces and thus we shall.
The following are the themes that we will be exploring in our work
- Process of play
- Process of balance
- Process of health
- Process of space, both literally and figuratively
Things need to happen in real life. We need to experience things from behind screens, We will be exploring method of doing that.
Great ya’ll are those anti capitalist artist types, So what does all this mean in terms of an e-commerce shop and purchasing art work? It means that some things will be for sale and some things will be free and some things will require another type of exchange. Interested in exchange, let’s chat.
Why can’t you just do a regular shopping exchange and be basic? Because we tried that and it didn’t work. There was no way for us to create ethically and sustain artistic integrity within the construct of the regular shopping structure. And no one strives to be basic.
Will there be prints? In the wise words of Bjork “possibly maybe but probably not” We would like our work to be experienced in person so we strive to make work that is best consumed in the Here and Now.
How can I be down? We are always looking for collaborators, allies and like minded folks. Let’s link, Tell us about yourself and what you have in mind.