Black Borders: Artists of Color, Reframing Culture
Erika DeFreitas, Amir George, Anansi KNOwBody
On view March 3 – May 5, 2018
Black Borders: Artists of Color, Reframing Culture presents new video works and installations that both embrace and challenge notions of what it is to be a contemporary artist and a person of color. The practice of the participating artists navigates, supports and embodies this duality. What does it mean to be viewed as an African American artist, or a female artist of color? How do you make art that is your own within what is often considered a monolithic culture of Black art that is associated with the politics of race and social responsibility? These questions highlight the assumptions of audiences and the art-world expectations other artists, critics, curators and collectors.
Black Borders considers a creative practice by people of color that is independent and unapologetic, rejecting notions that an artist of color should only engage in the context of “a role model” or being a voice for their race or gender. The exhibition will include a new multi-channel video presentation from Amir George, new photography by Erika DeFreitas, and a new installation by Anansi kNOwBody. The works of each of these artists embrace their cultural identity while at the same time declare authorship of their disparate narratives, emphasizing the context and considerations for contemporary artists of color.
Amir George is a Chicago-based filmmaker who creates spiritual stories, juxtaposing sound and image with a non-linear perception. He creates fragmented vignettes that conjure the secret life of objects both found and collected. The characters that inhabit his stories tend to dwell outside of social norms and exist in the space between and in the process of becoming. https://vimeo.com/amirgeorge
Anansi kNOwBody is a nomadic multidisciplinary artist/ filmmaker currently based in Chicago IL. A recent graduate of Meadows School of the Arts, Dallas’ M.F.A. program, Anansi is most known for work in the form of socio-political themed screen based media, installation, and performance. (kNOwBody will present a live performance during a reception for the exhibition.)
https://vimeo.com/anansiknowbody
Toronto-based Erika DeFreitas is a multidisciplinary conceptual artist who explores the formation of identity through language, loss and culture. As her textile-based works and performances are photographed, gesture and process form an important part in the documentation of her practice. www.erikadefreitas.com/
Fort Worth artist and writer Christopher Blay is guest curator for this exhibition. As Writer-In-Residence for the Art Galleries at TCU during the 2017 Fall semester, Blay interviewed and wrote about the work of visiting artists Larry Achiampong, David Blandy and Baseera Khan whose exhibitions engaged with themes of identity and diaspora. His presentation of Black Borders is a response to and a continuation of this conversation. (Blay is an alumni of the TCU School of Art and received his BFA in 2003.) blayblogger.blogspot.com/
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- FREE!
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