Monday, May 12, 2014 at 5:00AM I was asked to be a guest curator at this year's THE HAPPENING, LACE's annual benefit gala. Bid on the works now! And visit welcometolace.org to purchase tickets to the live auction!
Andy Robert, 2014 drawing on canvas, Som'em Special
Henry Taylor, oil on canvas, 2012, Dania Sofia is this you: Feeling brown is not blue
Kenturah Davis, ink on paper, 2011, DIFFERENT
Sunday, May 4, 2014 at 5:00AM Kenturah Davis was commissioned to do her first public art project. Watch her awesome time lapse of making the hand written mural drawings.
Commissioned by Alliance Francaise d'Accra, 2014.
Drawn by writing this Audre Lorde quote in repetition:
"I AM DELIBERATE AND AFRAID OF NOTHING."
Background:
I arrived in Ghana November, 2013. I found myself listening to a lot of Nina Simone, so when the opportunity came to propose a mural for International Women's Day, I immediately thought of Simone's "Four Women." The emotion of this song intensified my experiences as I traveled throughout the country, visiting the slave castles in and grappling with the history of the African diaspora. The theme Alliance Francaise selected for the mural, "Women of the World", encouraged me to consider subjects of today. Using Simone's song as a point of departure, I identified four African women who live in Accra and were doing interesting work that contributes to the community. It was important that they not be "famous"; rather, i tried to find a balance between anonymity and admirability.Ultimately, I wanted to create a work of art that portrayed accomplished women with very different personal stories and are tied to the strength and resiliency that Nina Simone conveys in her lyrical narratives. They are symbols of the many more amazing women I've encountered in Ghana.
Integral to the process of making the drawing, I had to also identify a text that I would use to render the four women. I finally selected one suggested by a friend; a quote by feminist, Audre Lorde: "I AM DELIBERATE AND AFRAID OF NOTHING." This simple, yet potent phrase served the dual purpose of declaring their sense of purpose and functioning as a meditation by which i could absorb its meaning for my own benefit. The process of writing a text in repetition to compose the portrait was a metaphor for the way that we acquire and inhabit language. It extended the work into the realm of a performative act, in which the process of making it is as important as the finished piece.Understanding that the advent of the written word arrived as the capacity of human memory deteriorated situates the portraits as a kind of documentation that might extend the reach of collective memory and historical consciousness.
Acknowledgements:
Alliance Francaise d'Accra
Osei-Duro
Shawanna Davis
Bright Kpoha
Keni and Mildred Davis
Papillion Art
Four Women:
Lila Macqueen Djaba
Akosua Adoma Owusu
Nana Oforiatta Ayim
Martina Odonkor
Thursday, May 1, 2014 at 5:00AM Thank you Los Angeles Times for the prominent feature in today's Business section! The story speaks about our perspective and vision on Leimert Park and how we think art can transform the community. Peep the Noah Davis "Temptations" painting and the Lisa C Soto sculpture, the photo was taken in our private upstairs gallery :-) Click the CONTACT tab to inquire about these available works.
Thursday, April 3, 2014 at 5:00AM
Pick up a copy of this week's LA Weekly. Its a wonderful, informed article about us and our position in the LA Artworld. It also goes into the history of the neighborhood and our vision for what we'd like to contribute to it. A snippet below.
Leimert Park Village is a stretch of storefronts that looks like a small town square tucked into a big city. That's where Michelle Papillion has a new gallery, and she titled its debut show "Open."
"It's really sort of an inside joke," she says. "Even the day before we had our grand opening, people were like, 'Are you sure you're going to be open?' Because there was still stuff on the floors, a big construction mess."
The space, like a lot of storefronts in the village that's just east of Crenshaw Boulevard, had been vacant for three years before Papillion arrived. "Mother Nature had taken over," she says. She had to patch up walls and tile the floors before installing the show.
But on the evening of Feb. 15, as scheduled, she had a pink neon sign saying "Papillion" above the entrance and work by eight emerging artists installed inside, including David Sigmund's wood-laminate sculptures in the window; colorful keyboards by Nzuji de Magalhaes against the sidewall of the first room; and Raksha Parekh's sugarcane-paper tendons hanging from the ceiling in the second room.
About 500 people came through that night, among them London dealer Jay Jopling; former MOCA director Jeffrey Deitch; neighborhood residents; and artists' parents and siblings. Papillion planned to close by 9 p.m. Instead, she was locking up a little after midnight.
Danielle Dean, a London-born L.A. artist whose work is elegantly populistic and who has a video in "Open," went for post-opening drinks with friends. She recalls one of those friends announcing, "I just want to propose a toast to what I think is an emerging scene."
Monday, March 17, 2014 at 5:00AM We had a crazy successful opening last month when we finally debuted in Leimert Park!!! And word has gotten around town, check out our re-cap and press from a recent newsletter:
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"We opened our doors February 15th in Leimert Park and nearly 500 people showed up to make it a complete success! The group exhibition titled OPEN features work by 8 emerging artist who should be taken note of: Painter, Hugo McCloud; Designer/Drawer, Kenturah Davis; Sculptor, Raksha Parkeh; Video & Installation artist, Danielle Dean; Painter & Sculptor, Nzuji de Magalhaes; Sculptor/Drawer, David Sigmund; Painter, Derek Fordjour and Abstract artist Samuel Levi Jones represent the burst of great talent the emerging art scene has to offer. Its an exciting time for Los Angeles and the artist community and I feel OPEN represents a little of this excitement. There were some great write ups about the show. KCET Artbound, Intersections South LA and Morningside Park Chronicle all covered our opening while LA WEEKLY just named us as one of the "5 Artsy Things to do in LA". There are some great quotes from Mark Bradford, Eileen Harris Norton and Jeffrey Deitch who attended the opening and had beautiful things to share.
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Tuesday, December 10, 2013 at 5:00AM We are still recovering from Art Basel Miami Beach 2013...it was an amazing time at the fairs and the parties were never ending. There will be a full follow up post coming but for now here is a bit about designer/architect Ifeanyi Ogunwa from London is the creator of Expand Design and showed at Miami Design.
From his website:
Founded by Ifeanyi Oganwu in 2008 and incorporated in 2009, Expand Design Ltd is a London-based studio engaging in architecture and furniture design by investigating the correlation between history, base materials and opportunities presented by state-of-the-art fabrication techniques. Through our projects, we unearth unidentified typologies that are inspired by the past, grounded in the present, and on a journey to a new aesthetic domain.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013 at 5:00AM Lakwena's wall in Wynwood Arts District...and the pop up gallery Women on the Walls is up at Wynwood Walls for another month.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013 at 5:00AM Danielle Dean was one of my favorite studio visits this year. She makes drawings and performance/video art.
Video still from "Are you working?" HD video, 30 min. 2010
Excerpt from Are you working? Various colored forms are caressed, rubbed and pushed together by hands with red nail polish.
danielledean.info
Monday, November 25, 2013 at 5:00AM Love this site specific installation by LA based artist Sean Shim-Boyle..if in town its a must see!
From the press release:
"Installing 100 beams to the existing architecture alludes, in part, to the forests of his childhood home in British Columbia. By lowering the existing rafters, this transformation compresses the space. The intervention alters the sensory relationship the viewer may have to the building. Towards the rear of the space is a set of automatic sliding glass doors, a variety commonly used in commercial premises. Placed in too-close proximity to one another, the sensors designed to open and close the doors are compromised, leaving the doors locked in endless standoff. The arrested movement of the doors creates an apparent passageway that is neither accessible nor secure."
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats: Nov 2 - Dec 21, 2013 at LA><ART
Sunday, November 24, 2013 at 5:00AM My latest obsession is with Brooklyn based shooter Andre Wagner.
"Brooklyn based, originally from Omaha, Nebraska. I received my BFA in Social Work and Digital Media in 2010 and now focus my passion on portrait and street documentary photography. My work is a juxtaposition of finding ways to preserve the sensitive moments of life that take me back to my social work roots, while capturing the richness of the human experience.
My photos are poetic and show images of human beings in a vulnerable yet strong way. The love I have for film is not solely based on the tangible textures and grains, but in the reality of shooting individuals who have different backgrounds, and expressions and using a medium of photography that is just as unpredictable as people are."
abstractelements.com
Saturday, November 23, 2013 at 5:00AM LAKWENA makes her Miami debut at Art Basel! She is working on a huge wall mural as we speak in the Wynwood Arts District. Jeffrey Deitch curated the group exhibition of women street arists. We hope you can join us in Miami to see Lakwena's amazing wall and new works in the pop up gallery!
December 3 - 8, 2013 in the Wynwood Arts District.
The logo for the Women on the Walls group show, designed by Lakwena
PAPILLION ART
Excerpt rom the press release:
Wynwood Walls presents a new outdoor mural project and a gallery exhibition celebrating the contributions of outstanding women artists who are part of the history and the new energy of street art. Women on the Walls will incorporate nine new wall murals and the gallery exhibition showcase the work of essential innovators like Lady Pink and Claw Money, and artists who are redefining street art today from a woman’s perspective like Maya Hayuk and Sheryo.
Five artists have been selected to create new wall murals in the Wynwood Walls compound. These are Aiko, from Japan, Fafi from Paris, Miss Van, from France, Maya Hayuk from New York, and the legendary Lady Pink. Aiko, who was part of the first year's mural project, is known for her sensual Japanese Pop imagery. Fafi and Miss Van are among the most influential street artists in Europe, creating pop figuration from a woman's perspective. Maya Hayuk's unique geometric style work is currently featured at the entrance of the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. Lady Pink was the most influential woman artist in the early history of New York graffiti. She was one of the stars of the 1983 film Wild Style that helped spread the imagery of New York Wild Style graffiti around the world.
Faith 47 from South Africa, Kashink from Paris, Lakwena from London and Sheryo from Singapore, have been commissioned by Goldman Properties to create new wall murals in the Wynwood neighborhood adjacent to the Wynwood Walls compound. These influential artists represent the international reach of the street art movement. Faith 47 recently completed a socially engaging project in Cape Town and Johannesburg using quotes from the Freedom Charter. In contrast to other women street artists, Kashink only paints men, usually four eyed fat and hairy gangster like figures. Lakwena, trained as a sign painter, creates dazzling compositions fusing words and geometric shapes.
thewynwoodwalls.com
Friday, November 22, 2013 at 5:00AM Andy Robert:
2010 drawing of a farmer in Rwanda“Conceptually, I’m interested in narrative structures, chance, and notions of gaming as system; particularly for the ability to influence, alter, and frame perceptions --ways of viewing, experiencing and engaging with art and the world. Drawing from the Constructivists’ notion of gestalt --to alter and shift the perception of space through the use of everyday materials in art, and postmodern sensibilities; my practice, multi-disciplinary and predominately research based, incorporating both text and image, and invested in arts’ critical capacity. Acknowledging the body as a point, not alone or at center but social --of many points orbiting, pushing and pulling, conversing and relaying, I seek to question our boundaries, our space/time and our humanity as either a common, mutable and/or a fabrication.
And in working in the assemblage tradition and critically with archives, its’ interesting what happens to things when they come in to proximity and/or collide.”
http://andyrobert.com
The Bindery Projects: “4 Fragments," Minneapolis, Minnesota
Thursday, November 21, 2013 at 5:00AM Meeting Nzuji for the first time is quite the fun experience. She is warm, very friendly and is eager & excited to speak about her work. I caught up with her at her show at LA Artcore Brewery where she has a few paintings and a video installation on view now. But I fell in love with her work at the Made in LA show at the Hammer last year.
Nzuji is from Angola and is a painter, sculptor and composer. She recently won the commission of doing a permanent public art install at the soon to open Bundy train stop on the Expo metro line!
Her installation of piano cities at the Hammer Museum
Wednesday, November 20, 2013 at 5:00AM Andrea's artist statement:
My work examines cultures created under the influence of colonial and post-colonial regimes and their relationship to The Land. I mine foodstuffs, recipes and archival materials such as photographs and tourist publications, in order to reconstruct and create a new series of narratives, which I juxtapose against the stories told by the colony to sell romantic notions about nature and labor.
Through sculpture and painting I use food items and recipes to explore migration patterns, both voluntary and involuntary, and how cultures have been created through the influence of multiple mother cultures and the conditions of The Land. By manipulating photographs and tourism imagery, I investigate how The Land has been sold through picturesque fantasy and fantastic copy.
I ask the viewer to question the “real,” the seen and unseen in order to navigate these conflicting narratives.
http://andreachungart.com
Bato Disik, 2012 made of sugar
Sink & Swim, 2013 made of sugar and wire
From "Thongs: experience the luxury included" series 2010
Come back to Jamaica, video animation 2009
Tuesday, November 19, 2013 at 5:00AM LA based artist Zeal Harris has some very interesting series in the works, the most exciting of all is a graphic novel she recently started!
Zeal's artist statement:
When we humans experience aesthetic pleasure, we experience joy, and joy is the ecstasy of living. When humans do an activity that creates aesthetic pleasure, I understand this process and its outcomes to be art. My art is making painting, cooking, growing plants, nurturing relationships, and exchanging jokes and stories with people that I adore. This artistic statement begins in an autobiographical and self-ethnographical kind of way. I find it extremely difficult to separate my life from my art. In fact, as evidenced by my paintings, my life is my art.
http://www.zealsart.com
The series below is titled "Nice Legs"
Monday, November 18, 2013 at 5:00AM Derek Fordjour is a first generation Ghanian American who grew up in Memphis. He now lives and works in Harlem and is creating some very interesting works.
Artist Bio:
Derek Fordjour is an artist working in variety of media, primarily drawing, painting and printmaking. He studied at Pratt Institute and the Art Student’s League in New York City. He is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta Georgia, earned a Master’s Degree in Art Education from Harvard University and is currently pursuing an MFA in painting at Hunter College. His work is in several collections throughout the US.
http://derekfordjour.com/
Sunday, November 17, 2013 at 5:00AM My latest online obsession is Vogue fashion writer Chioma Nnadi's new column where she blogs about her love for fashion and her curiosity of where fashion intersects with art, music and film. Her first post about the fashion label Etudes has us feeling blue!
Left to right: Etudes shirt, pants and hat. Commissioned artwork by Pia Howell for the collection.
Monday, October 14, 2013 at 5:00AM I've been enjoying some amazing weather in NY for the past 2 weeks so there are lots of blog updates I need to catch up on. The most exciting thing I encountered on my trip was the HeartsRevolution duo and there dynamic swaroski crystal ice cream truck! The same crystals that Michael Jackson used for his stage and performance costumes (think the epic MJ glove!) Lo the wicked street artist and brainchild behind the truck greets you inside as she pushes the eclectic mix of things they have for sale.
Thursday, September 19, 2013 at 5:00AM This film comes out in LA tomorrow. The trailer is beautiful and some of our favorites worked on the film, Bradford Young is the DP, Mobalji Dawodu was the costume designer and Andrew Dosunmu helms the director role! Check it out.
Synopsis:
Adenike and Ayodele (The Walking Dead's Danai Guira and veteran actor Isaach De Bankole) are a Nigerian couple living in Brooklyn. Following the joyous celebration of their wedding, complications arise our of their inability to conceive a child - a problem that devastates their family and defies cultural expectations, leading Adenike to make a shocking decision that could either save her family or destroy it. Acclaimed director Andrew Dosumnu (Restless City) captures the nuances of this unique and fascinating culture by creating a beautiful, vibrant and moving portrait of a couple whose joys and struggles are at once intimate and universal.
The films website has all the details about show times and theaters.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013 at 5:00AM Last night I attended the art auction for the Anti Defamation League LA at the home of Jeanne and Tony Pritzker. The host was Eli Broad and there were tons of awesome pieces up for grabs! Kehinde Wiley, Gary Baseman and Kenturah Davis were just a few of the talents involved. Kenturah made a drawing for the occasion. A portrait of Alpha Robertson, the mother of Carole Robertson the 14 year old girl that was killed in the 1963 church bombing. Read the article published in the Jewish Journal which features a quote from Kenturah about her art practice.
