installation

LOVE+GRIT STOREFRONTS

LOVE+GRIT STOREFRONTS PROJECT

Our work is part of the Love + Grit Storefronts Project with @lovegrit- philly + @visitphilly. The project uses public art to turn empty store- fronts into expressions of pride and support businesses impacted by the pandemic. #LoveGritPhilly #VisitPhilly Find my art pieces below

The campaign, an extension of VISIT PHILADELPHIA’s popular Love + Grit podcast, reinvigorates the city’s empty storefronts by transforming them into art installations. The Love + Grit Storefronts Project spotlights Philly’s talented QBIPOC artists and innovative Black and Brown-owned businesses. In the citywide public art installation, each artist has turned an empty storefront into an expression of pride, supporting a business adversely affected by the pandemic and showcasing the potential of storefronts available for lease. The displayed artwork is on view for locals and visitors to see and enjoy through the holidays.

This project was Curated by Ginger Rudolph and Conrad Brenner

Funded in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the exhibit features 24 local businesses impacted by the pandemic and 12 QBIPOC artists who have transformed empty storefronts with their artistry, creativity and ingenuity. The 12 participating artists collaborated with two businesses each. QR codes appear on all storefronts, encouraging admirers to check out visitphilly.com/storefronts to learn more information about the campaign, the artists’ inspirations and the business owners’ stories.

WE CHAT ABOUT THE PROJECT ON THE LOVE+GRIT PODCAST

INFINATE

INFINITE is a future-leaning collage/illustration that honors past design, acknowledges Kenya and Steven’s retail journey, and looks to the future. It was inspired by the modern lines of The Modern Republic’s building and its mid-century décor, along with the relationship the furniture’s time period had with West and East African aesthetics.

Inspiration for the WorkThe Modern Republic (1600 W. Girard Avenue), a mid-century modern furnishings store, owned by Kenya Abdul-Hadi and Steven Brown, selling wares from the 1940s through 1970s.

UP AND OVER

UP AND OVER is a visual narrative created using mixed-media street art and fine art to celebrate movement, shift and flow while helping to amplify all voices.

Inspiration for the WorkThe African American Museum in Philadelphia (701 Arch Street), dedicated to preserving, interpreting and exhibiting the heritage and culture of African Americans.

Photos by R. Rabena for VISIT PHILADELPHIA® / VISIT PHILADELPHIA®


UNRAVELED

UNRAVELED

Super excited to announce the opening of “UNRAVELED: Confronting The Fabric of Fiber Art” Group Show @untitledspaceny this friday. This show will include a few pieces as well as an installation from our ‘Of Expansion’ Series. The following is all the info

OPENING APRIL 17TH “UNRAVELED: Confronting The Fabric of Fiber Art” Group Show @untitledspaceny ✨
RSVP Required

The Untitled Space is pleased to present “UNRAVELED: Confronting The Fabric of Fiber Art” a group show opening on April 17th and on view through May 28th, 2021. Curated by Indira Cesarine, the exhibition will feature textile and fiber-based artworks by 40 contemporary artists. “UNRAVELED: Confronting The Fabric of Fiber Art” explores in depth the themes and techniques of the medium through the works of female-identifying artists working with natural and synthetic fiber, fabric, and yarn. The exhibition presents figurative and abstract works that address our lived experience and history through the lens of women weaving, knotting, twining, plaiting, coiling, pleating, lashing, and interlacing. Narratives of self-identification, race, religion, gender, sexuality, our shared experience, as well as protest and the patriarchy are literally “unraveled” through embroidery, felt, woven and hooked rugs, braided and sewn hair, sewn fabrics, discarded clothing, cross-stitching, repurposed materials and more.

Exhibiting Artists: Amber Doe, Carol Scavotto, Caroline Wayne, Christy O’Connor, Daniela Puliti, Delaney Conner, Dominique Vitali, Elise Drake, Elizabeth Miller, Hera Haesoo Kim, Indira Cesarine, Jamia Weir, Jody MacDonald, Julia Brandão, Kathy Sirico, Katie Cercone, Katie Commodore, Katrina Majkut, Katy Itter, Kelly Boehmer, Linda Friedman Schmidt, Lisa Federici, Marianne Fairbanks, Mary Tooley Parker, Melanie Fischer, Melissa Zexter, Mychaelyn Michalec, Mz Icar, Orly Cogan, Robin Kang, Rosemary Meza-DesPlas, Ruta Naujalyte, Sally Hewett, Sarah Blanchette, Sooo-z Mastopietro, Sophie Boggis-Rolfe, Stacy Isenbarger, Stephanie Eche, Victoria Selbach, and Winnie van der Rijn.

More info:
https://untitled-space.com/unraveled-confronting-the-fabric-of-fiber-art-group-show/


STUDIO VISIT: MAS

MAS

My earliest memories consist of watching my grandmother, her sisters, and brothers wine to the wee hours of the morning to tiny whiny and various old school soca tunes. I often joke that soca is the techno of black music. If you want to hang at a soca jam it requires stamina. There is no standing on the walls there is no chilling off to the side. Soca envelopes you.

In 2016 I attended Trinidad’s carnival for the first time. Being of Caribbean descent, carnival, soca music, and the culture, in general, was very familiar. This trip was special because it was the first time that I experienced this culture fully embraced by society. In Toronto you have Caribana and it’s fun but the city tolerates Caribana because it brings in so much money. In New York you have the West Indian Labor Day parade and that’s a good time except for that time I almost got ran over by a cop trying to disperse crowds. New York also seems to tolerate the West Indian Day parade. But Trinidad is down for the whole thing. Municipal buildings are closed carnival in Trinidad. This is a nationwide celebration. Throughout the days leading up to the Mas, You can hear various steel pan ensembles practicing throughout Port au Spain from late at night till the early hours of the morning. You can peek into storefronts that are filled with costumes in various states of completion.

To experience that particular version of carnival was a freedom that I had never ever seen. One of the great things about it is that it’s a multi-generational event So you see your grandma, your auntie’s, the children everybody participating. The whole place shuts down just to have this release. It’s a celebration of color, movement, dancing, everything and it seems like everyone understands that this releases imperative to the workings of society.

Waiting to get through customs I conversed with a gentleman who told me he had been slowly upping his intake and alcohol so that he could be ready for the amount of fetes that he was going to have. A fetes a party, or lively gathering, for many of them the ticket price includes food and liquor. You have breakfast fetes, boat fetes, dinner fats lunch fest pre carnival fetes etc. Throughout carnival you’ll often see people with multiple plastic bracelets that act as tickets to various fetes.

Before we get into these lovely bodies and reminders of warm sunlight on our skin, let’s get into the history of the celebration. Carnival is a Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent.The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typically involves public celebrations, including events such as parades, public street parties and other entertainments, combining some elements of a circus. Elaborate costumes and masks allow people to set aside their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity.Participants often indulge in excessive consumption of alcohol, meat, and other foods that will be forgone during upcoming Lent.

From an anthropological point of view, carnival is a reversal ritual, in which social roles are reversed and norms about desired behavior are suspended.

And like most things in this region of the world black folks got a hold of carnival and took it to the next level, these elaborate multi-day celebrations. They were not invited to the ceremonies of their masters and would put on their own festivals making fun of their masters and so this became a partially satirical event.

This whole experience got me really thinking about the idea of being completely free losing one’s inhibitions and being able to practice ceremony without judgment, over-policing, or unnecessary parameters. Basically, what’s it like to be free? How do we cultivate ways in which we can perpetually tap into that experience?

Years later many some of the images I shot on this experience would be used for various design projects particularly for Machell Montana’s soca volume one and soca volume two both of these design projects sit extremely dear to my heart as they depict current visual representations of us by us. They depict rarely publicly displayed cross-generational expressions of freedom and joy within blackness.

I’m reflecting on this experience in a chilly 23 degree Philadelphia artist space. I’m sharing this because in a time where it’s so challenging to gather, be around people and share this type of energy I hope these images serve as a reminder that it exists and It’s part of our narrative.


STUDIO VISIT: THAT NEW NEW

THAT NEW NEW

This period of isolation has been wonderful for us in the studio. There are so many concepts, ideas, and collaborations that we have started and have been unable to finish due to commissioned work. This break from traditional gathering and socializing has allowed us to dive into these more and focus our efforts on that work.

That being said we do feel a lot of guilt around finding pleasure in this and our hearts go out to everybody who has been affected by this virus. The death toll is insane and very hard for us to wrap our heads around, as well as the economic and emotional effects that this has had on the world. We also have our emotions around the treatment of Black Folks, senseless murders and attacks on joy.  We do believe at any given moment multiple realities and perspectives are going on all the time. There is the reality and experience that we are having and there is the reality and experience that every other being is having as well. We acknowledge and hold space for all of those.

Let’s chat about our lastest processes, experience and manifestations. In this studio visit, we share our process, our thoughts, our themes of exploration as well as our collaborative projects. We are gearing up for a show called ‘The Church of expansion’. It will include a series of collages prints canvases banners and other mixed-media works. It also includes the collaboration print series with Erin Patrice O’Brien. We also chat about the origins of our character Matilda and an animation project that has Tanya Farmer teaching her (and you) yoga.

Enjoy our latest studio visit and share it with a friend.

There are a lot of things you shouldn’t really be sharing these days but this vid isn’t one of them 🙂