DCASE COMMISSIONER CLINÈE HEDSPETH IN CONVERSATION WITH FAIÉ AFRIKAN ART IN BRONZEVILLE OWNER FAYE EDWARDS
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Commissioner Clinée Hedspeth of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) was part of a Gallery Tour and conversation with Faye Edwards of Faié Afrikan Art in Bronzeville on Saturday. Edwards is celebrating 20 years of operating the gallery focused on the impact and beauty of African art. She spoke often of her mission of connecting to tradition, the ancestors and the omnipresence of the Spirit.
The thoughtful conversation traced Edwards interest in African culture back to childhood, her trips to the continent, and her constant focus on art education. This was the first conversation Hedspeth hosted with a gallerist, with her goal being to highlight art in Chicago’s neighborhoods.
A portion of the discussion touched on how objects, created by Africans as tools, are now considered art and the valuation of such items. Edwards also stressed the need to work with an educated dealer to avoid purchasing artifacts reproduced in China or India.
The gallery is at 1005 E. 43rd Street and currently has various works on exhibition in addition to their African artifacts, including works by George Crump and Ghanaian master artist Emmanuel O. Dartey, whose estate the gallery purchased.
ARTIST PURVIS YOUNG FOUND INSPIRATION IN CHICAGO MURAL MOVEMENT
Bronzeville-Black Metropolis National Heritage Area (BBMNHA) will host their benefit exhibition on Thursday, February 27th at Zolla Liberman Gallery. The exhibition features work by Purvis Young: Messenger of Salvation and Liberation and Raymond Anthony Thomas: Cry Loud and Spare Not. The evening will also include a conversation about the influence of Chicago’s Wall of Respect on Young’s career featuring art appraiser Diane Dinkins Carr, who knew the artist. 100% of the sale of Young’s work “Untitled” will benefit BBMNHA. The Benefit will be held from 5 pm – 8 pm at 325 W. Huron Street and the exhibition continues through March 8. Tickets for the fundraiser can be purchased here.
Young, who exhibited during the 2019’s Venice Biennale, for The European Culture Centre's, Personal Structures, found inspiration in the mural movements of Chicago and Detroit in the 1970s, and decided to create a mural of inspiration in his Overtown neighborhood in Miami, despite never having painted before. The mural garnered media attention, including the attention of millionaire Bernard Davis, owner of the Miami Museum of Modern Art. Davis became Young’s patron.
His work is in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Centre Pompidou, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Pérez Art Museum Miami, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and others. In 2018, he was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.
The desire to create has consumed Thomas for as long as he can remember. Today, this St. Louis native has cultivated his passion into a vibrant multi-disciplinary artistic practice that continues to expand with purpose and daring. Thomas received a merit scholarship in 1984 to attend the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied painting, filmmaking and graphic design. In 1988, soon after graduating and receiving his BFA in visual communications, Thomas was hired by Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Company Inc. where he served as art director and creative manager for over 23-years. He also continued his life-long mission of mentoring youth and creating art with showings of his studio works in Chicago and galleries nation-wide.
Purchase tickets here.
A MOVEMENT IN EVERY DIRECTION AT CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER
A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration explores the profound impact of the Great Migration on the social and cultural life of the United States from historical and personal perspectives. Co-organized by the Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) and the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), the award-winning exhibition features newly commissioned works across media by 12 acclaimed artists, including Akea Brionne, Mark Bradford, Zoë Charlton, Larry W. Cook, Torkwase Dyson, Theaster Gates Jr., Allison Janae Hamilton, Leslie Hewitt, Steffani Jemison, Robert Pruitt, James Richmond-Edwards, and Carrie Mae Weems.
AFROFUTURISM: REIMAGINING THE PAST AND TELLING A BLACK FANTASTIC FUTURE
by Shantay Robinson
There are Black people in the future. In 2017, contemporary visual artist Alisha B. Wormsley began placing those words on billboards across the country in cities including Pittsburgh, Detroit, Charlotte, New York City, Kansas City, and Houston. According to Wormsley, the phrase started out as a “Black nerd sci-fi joke.” But after her billboard was removed in Pittsburgh for being interpreted as divisive, it became clear that a perspective that imagines and includes Black people in futuristic narratives was needed.
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