ArtDiction November/December 2023

Habitual. Art.

Healing, Connection & Preservation Volume 36 November/December 2023 www.artdictionmagazine.com

jacksonsart.com rogallery.com

mcny.org

In the Open Air Henry Coe, James Hennessey, Eugene Leake, Raoul Middleman, Giorgos Rigas cgrimaldisgallery.com/current

FEATURES 18

Art, Trauma & Rebuilding Through the use of mixed media and watercolor, Tori Kovarik creates abstract images and landscapes and explores experiences of trauma and the constant acts of recreating and rebuilding that follow trauma.

28 Marrying Art, Culture & Religion Zehra Batool is a native Maryland multimedia artist, whose work is heavily centered around her identity as a Pakistani American muslim. She hopes that one day, through her art she is able to express, share, and enlighten others about Islam and its vast cultures.

36 Afrofuturistic Storytelling James Flowers’ paintings convey the African Ameri can experience, both literally and figuratively, through his subjects and the medium he uses. The Louisianaborn artist takes a neoclassical approach to portraiture with a contem porary approach and message.

44 Emotional Expressions Eanaj Janae, a self-taught artist originally from Southern California and now residing on the East Coast, uses her captivating art to spotlight the Black com munity’s struggles and triumphs, including mental health challenges and the enduring strength required.

Cover photo courtesy of Tori Kovarik.

50 Belonging, Home & Connection Combining elements of neo-expressionism, graffiti and African art, Brittany’s a multidisciplinary artist that creates abstract images and figures of the Black diaspora, to celebrate, uplift, and communicate complex emotions of Blackness and its intersectionality.

In Each Issue 5

small talk

6

news

14 exhibits 62 artist & ad index

©2023 by Vika Visual Arts Association

ArtDiction | 4 | November/December 2023

Photo courtesy of Zehra Batool.

small talk

© EanaJ Janae

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s I look ahead to 2024, I have to first slow my mind down and be grateful for all that has occurred in 2023! ArtDiction has made slight shifts in order to engage a wider audience while having a more specific focus. We have aligned ourselves with Vika Visual Arts Association (VVAA)—501(c) (3) arts organization that works to provide equal opportunity to all emerging visual artists by providing the tools, resources and training that every artist needs while eliminating the roadblocks on their specific path to creative success.

Our publication will continue to be your source for all things art while feeding your addiction to art. But we will also use this publication to promote and focus on artists who are new to navigating the art world.

Connection & Preservation.” As an eyewitness of the development and completion of this work, I was moved and inspired to promote their work and forever root for them on their artistic journeys. Some of the work featured at the show is featured in this last issue of the year.

In this issue, we feature five artists who make up the very first cohort of VVAA’s artist development program, “Mind Your Art Business.”

Recently, these emerging, talented artists showcased individual art at a group exhibition entitled, “Healing,

I have no doubt you will enjoy this issue. And remember to stay on the lookout for many more exciting events, news, and topics from VVAA/ArtDiction. Thank you for your continued support!

Leaf through the pages, and you will: enjoy the candid, spirited interview with Brittany Mona’; learn more about the Afrocentric storytelling approach from James Flowers; feel the sincerity and passion from Zehra Batool has she bridges the gap between art and culture; feel emotions and creative expression from Eanaj Janae; and peer deep into watercolors and abstracts that are full of meaning created by Tori Kovarik.

Devika Strother, Editor in Chief devika@artdictionmagazinecom

ArtDiction | 5 | November/December 2023

news Art World Insiders Make Their Predictions for 2024 Officially, 2023 is a thing of the past. To kick off 2024, more than a dozen art world figures, from dealers to art advisers and beyond, were asked for their predictions for the new year. Here’s what they had to say:

Alex Glauber, art adviser and president of the Association of Professional Art Advisors: After 2023 finally saw the art market correction many had expected for years, there is cause for greater optimism in 2024 as the Federal Reserve has indicated it will cut rates at least once next year, and

market if that were the case. It’s the casual buyers and shoppers, often unreliable as long-term clients, that absorb the majority of new material and keep things going.

If operating and logistic costs don’t come down that will put a lot of pressure on galleries already operating on tight margins. The added variables of geopolitical unrest, the forthcoming presidential election, and broader cultural divisiveness mean that there is likely to be further consolidation among smaller and midsize galleries.

Benjamin Godsill, curator and art adviser: Only a fool would publicly make predictions, where’s the upside? Well, I never said I was wise: reading the tea leaves gives some positive and some negative indications of what might transpire in the business of art over the next year.

National Museum of Western Art. Tokyo, Japan.

Allan Schwartzman, art adviser: In 2024 the urgency to own will not feel as urgent for collectors as it very recently did. One should expect much more volatility in the market for emerging artists than we’ve seen for decades: greatness is not produced at the rate that the recent appetite for it would seem to dictate. My wish for this year is that new businesses are created to develop a sustainable secondary market to accommodate the coming resale overflow for contemporary art and to break our overdependence on current institutions, which produce under-reported and skewed statistics for art sales.

likely more. The psychological and practical implications of this will drive greater demand among collectors and in turn, discretionary selling as people feel more optimistic about the market.

However, the broader health and sustainability of the art market, specifically the primary market for contemporary art, remains less clear. So much of the primary market has become beholden to art fairs as a venue to meet new buyers and urge them to transact.

As much as we like to think that every artwork is bought by a “collector,” art fairs wouldn’t continue to be such an important part of the ArtDiction | 6 | November/December 2023

First the bad: exposure to the rocky markets (art and otherwise) over the past couple of years have made art buyers much more aware that connoisseurship and selectivity are important. They have realized that in an unstable market, works of scarcity and quality hold their value much better than other works. This is great for smart collectors (or those smart enough to hire true art adviser/curators) but it’s not so great for galleries, especially small and medium-size shops. The sad reality is that I think we will see the loss of more great galleries than we would like, and we may even be surprised by a couple of well-regarded shops that may be forced to close.

On the positive side, I think the market will continue to “discover” (in a financial sense) artists from historically marginalized/underrepresented groups and give them new exhibition platforms as well as market momentum. I think we are going to hear a lot more about the living legend Howardena Pindell as

news well as other senior female artists of color. I am also keen to start seeing a lot of artists from Indigenous North American backgrounds being given their due. In particular, I am excited to have a lot more people learn about the work of painter Julie Buffalohead, as well as the sculptor and weaver Jeremy Frey.

Charles Stewart, CEO of Sotheby’s: In 2024 we will see continued price separation between “the best” and “the rest” when it comes to quality of the works, as collectors exercise discerning judgment. We will also see demand for a greater range of artists who have historically been underrepresented at auction, such as Indigenous American and Chicano artists. Finally, women artists will continue to rise at the top end of the market. Sales of female contemporary artists at over $1 million has more than doubled since 2018, led by Joan Mitchell and Yayoi Kusama, but there is much more room to go.

with this recalibration, 2024 can only be more nourishing and active.

“I think we’ll continue to see an ongoing correction in the global art market.

This means a general shift away from the experimentalism of yesteryear toward selectivity and regionalism.”

Ana Sokoloff, art adviser: I think we are entering a slower market; however, true quality will always have a following among collectors and will sustain value over time.

Marc Glimcher, president and CEO of Pace Gallery, which is set to open Pace Tokyo this spring: 2024 will see the continued resurgence of Japan as a global art world hotspot. Artists, collectors, and dealers will once again make Tokyo a “must go” destination.

Philip Hoffman, art adviser: I am optimistic about 2024. The Miami art fairs and the November auctions in New York demonstrated that the art market is far more resilient than people had anticipated, particularly when the works on offer are of high quality. In 2024 we will see a continued weeding out in the ultracontemporary category, alongside a deepening of the market in established positions.

Lawrence Van Hagen, art adviser and curator: As we enter 2024 against the backdrop of global inflationary concerns and geopolitical unrest, I think we’ll continue to see an ongoing correction in the global art market. This means a general shift away from the experimentalism of yesteryear toward selectivity and regionalism: Galleries may consider doing fewer fairs and may present more curated solo booths when they do take part; a reduction in international travel to art fairs especially as costs rise and sustainability issues loom on the horizon (major fairs have become very regionally focused in any case); collectors are also likely to focus on art fairs and artists in their region.

Anthony Meier, art dealer and president of the Art Dealers Association of America: The adjustment of the 2023 appetite took a while to be a new norm. Now,

Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, collector: The art market showed remarkable resilience in 2023, even amid financial uncertainties and geopolitical ArtDiction | 7 | November/December 2023

challenges. I believe—and hope— that many of the dynamics of recent years will continue, with a particular focus on women artists and artists from marginalized communities.

Mary Sabbatino, vice president and partner at Galerie Lelong & Co: With wars, a huge increase in unhoused people and the criminalization of immigration in the United States, reproductive rights sharply curtailed, and an election that threatens to return an autocratic and criminal leader to power, it is hard to look forward to 2024 with anything but dread. However, collaborating with artists brings insight and hope that keeps me optimistic as an art dealer. I am hopeful that 2024 will bring more equity for women artists, artists of color, and Native artists. I’d like to see the number of sales of women artists—11 percent of institutional acquisitions as quoted in the 2022 Burns Halperin report—move sharply upward. Two trends will continue, in parallel: the market will continue to reward the iconic and rare, following the trends we saw at the auctions in November, and there will continue to be interest for new discoveries, artists of color, and Indigenous artists. I predict that the increase in important exhibitions of Indigenous artists seen this year—“Indian Theater” at Bard’s Hessel Museum of Art, “The Land Carries Our Ancestors” at the National Gallery of Art, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith at the Whitney Museum—will increase acquisitions in private and public collections.

Phyllis Kao, vice-president of client strategies, and auctioneer at Sotheby’s: I believe globalization, through technology and increased access, and the subsequent globalization of culture and status signifiers, will continue to mold how our clients build collections

news and acquire treasures. We’ve said it for a few years now, and I think the phenomena will continue to gain traction in 2024: cross-category collecting, and global collectors’ redefining and eschewing collecting rules will continue, and at a higher pitch. (I can’t tell you how many times I was surprised this year by who was bidding on what, in terms of cross-pollination!) This particular evolution of how collectors consider acquisitions, and how they appreciate objects and art, will continue.

Leo Xu, senior director for David Zwirner in Hong Kong: Following 2023, I believe there will be even greater international visibility for artists from Asia. Asian creativity across mediums from art to music and cinema will continue its momentum in having a major influence on global culture. Secondly, I believe there will be an important repositioning of the Chinese market on the global art market as well.

It will continue to be a dominant region, but I think there will be a more sensitive understanding of its nuances and trends in the next year.

Magnus Renfrew, co-founder of ART SG, Taipei Dangdai, and Tokyo Gendai: Asia will continue to assert its position within the global art world. The framing of “international” being synonymous with “European and American” will continue to be revisited as the art market follows the institutional lead in increasingly recognizing the importance of the cultural output of artists beyond the Euro-American bubble. In addition, Asia will be recognized as a key and expanding buying audience for global contemporary art.

Raymond J. McGuire, collector: During 2024, and in a world filled with challenging uncertainties, artists and their gifts of genius and heightened sensitivity will continue

The Musée du Louvre. Photo: Inge Knoff via Flickr.

to provide us with hope and promise. They will inspire us to reflect upon, strive for, and perhaps even attain our best selves. With their courage and vision, curators will persist in enlightening and guiding us. They will uphold their all-important mission of acknowledging and exhibiting artists who have historically been excluded, but who are now central to the canon and taking their rightful place on the art landscape.

The Louvre Raises Ticket Prices for the First Time in Seven Years The general admission ticket for The Louvre Museum has been raised by 29 percent, reaching €22 ($23.70). This coincides with Paris hosting the 33rd modern Olympic Games between July 26 and August 11, 2024 and France’s first ever summer Paralympics from August 28 to September 8, 2024.

Masterpieces from the estate of late Condé Nast tycoon Samuel Irving—or “S.I.”—Newhouse Jr. will hit the auction block at Christie’s ArtDiction | 8 | November/December 2023

this spring.

The price overhaul, which comes ahead of the summer Olympics, is part of a masterplan by Laurence des Cars, the Louvre director, to regulate attendance at the most visited museum in the world (visitor figures this year are expected to reach 8.7m; in 2018 the museum drew a record 10.2m people). The Louvre estimates that around 80% of its visitors come solely for Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

The price increase will help to subsidise free entry for certain individuals. Teachers of art history, visitors aged under 18 from the European Union, staff from the French Ministry of Culture and disabled visitors all qualify for free admission.

“In 2023, more than 3.6m visitors— most of them French, [from] Ile-deFrance and Parisians—have [subsequently] passed through the doors of the collections and exhibitions of the largest museum in the world for free!” a Louvre statement says.

news Crucially Des Cars has capped daily attendance this year at 30,000 visitors, down from the previous pre-pandemic high of 45,000 and also announced plans for a new entrance on its eastern façade. Her aim is to ease congestion around the Louvre Pyramid (the entrance designed by the late architect I.M. Pei).

Vera Molnár, Godmother of Generative Art, Dies at 99 Vera Molnár, the media artist who pioneered generative art-making, has died at age 99. Her passing was announced on December 7 by Centre Pompidou, which is due to host an exhibition of Molnár’s work in 2024.

“It is with deep emotion that we learn of the passing of Vera Molnár with whom we had worked passionately for her next major exhibition at the Center Pompidou,” the museum wrote on X. Digital artists and platforms including Dmitri Cherniak, Mario Klingemann, ARSNL Art, and Art Blocks likewise commiserated about Molnár’s passing—paying tribute to an artist whose groundbreaking computational artworks, which she began in the 1950s, heralded the algorithmic art of today.

“The machine, thought to be cold and inhuman, can help to realize what is most subjective, unattainable, and profound in a human being,” she once noted.

Born in 1924 in Budapest, Hungary, Molnár was trained in aesthetics and art history at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts. Her interest in art, however, would brush up against her fascination with numbers and geometry in ways that extended far beyond traditional bounds.

In the late 1950s, following a move to Paris, Molnár commenced a

Vera Molnár in her home and studio workshop on May 28, 2011 in Paris, France. Photo: Catherine Panchout/ Sygma via Getty Images.

systematic approach to her work, a sequential process she called “machine imaginaire.” It involved mapping out a series of steps, much like computerized inputs and outputs, which would determine an artwork’s final form. In other words, she had devised for herself a programming language, a foundation for generative art to come.

With her process, Molnár would produce highly geometric, handdrawn works, such as those in her “Slow Movement” series. These pieces would grow increasingly intricate as she availed herself of tools such as plotters and early computers. By the 1970s, she was turning out complex drawings such as her celebrated À la recherche de Paul Klee (1970), an ink-plotter riff on Klee’s Cubism, and Structures of Squares (1974), created with a randomized framework using the RESEAU-TO program.

Molnár’s work was intertwined with artist-led research groups that she spearheaded to explore how creatives could better collaborate with machines. In particular, the ArtDiction | 9 | November/December 2023

Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel, which included artists such as Julio Le Parc, Francisco Sobrino, and Horacio Garcia Rossi, presented its Labyrinth installation at the Paris Biennale in 1963, where visitors were invited to engage with various optical and kinetic objects.

The arrival of personal computers in the ’80s marked a shift for Molnár: “It changed everything,” she remembered in 2022. They allowed her to work from home, for one, where she continued to produce works such as Hommage à Dürer (1989–2004), recursive variations of which she created with plotters and embroidery.

The new millennium brought Molnár new recognition. She was bestowed the DAM Digital Arts Award in 2005, then appointed Chevalier of Arts and Letters by the French cultural ministry in 2007.

Molnár’s work was also included in a smattering of exhibitions: at the Museum of Modern Art in 2010 and 2017, the Museum Haus Konstruktiv in 2015, and Senior & Shopmaker Gallery in 2018.

news Then, the generative art scene blew up. That the generative or algorithm art of today owes a debt to early computer artists including Molnár, Frieder Nake, and Frederick Hammersley has not gone unnoticed or unrecognized.

As she spent her later days in a Paris nursing home, Molnár has watched her pioneering work being newly embraced. Most prominently, they were included in the 2022 Venice Biennale, which featured a gallery devoted to her 1970s and ’80s works.

One of her last acts was “Themes and Variations,” a generative art series she created in collaboration with digital artist Martin Grasser, which produced 500 unique, typographic NFTs. The project kicked off Sotheby’s Gen Art Program in June 2023 and raked in $1.2 million.

“It’s an amazing thing, to wake up in the morning… to start scribbling without having any idea what it is you’re after. You try the same thing with a computer, and what you were dreaming of starts slowly to unfold,” she said in 2022. “This is what’s paradoxical about the computer—it helps you to bring into the world what you had only imagined, even when you yourself don’t know what that is.”

Carrie Mae Weems Joins Gladstone The celebrated photographer Carrie Mae Weems has joined Gladstone Gallery, which has locations in New York, Brussels, and Seoul. With her new representation, Weems will depart New York’s Jack Shainman Gallery, which has shown her art for the past 15 years.

Gladstone’s first exhibition with Weems will take place in the fall of next year at one of its New York spaces. She joins a roster that includes Sarah Lucas, Wangechi Mutu, Alex Katz, Shirin Neshat,

Carrie Mae Weems. ©ROLEX/PHOTO AUDOIN DESFORGES/COURTESY GLADSTONE GALLERY, FRAENKEL GALLERY, AND GALERIE BARBARA THUMM

Arthur Jafa, and many others.

A representative for Gladstone said that the gallery’s representation of Weems would be exclusive in New York. Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco and Galerie Barbara Thumm in Berlin will continue to represent her.

“Her conceptually driven, aesthetically powerful work is unflinching in its call for social justice and equity. She has been profoundly influential as both an artist and a teacher on a generation of artists, and we look forward to bringing her art to a wide public.”

“The opportunity to work with Carrie Mae Weems at this point in her trajectory is a great honor,” ArtDiction | 10 | November/December 2023

Barbara Gladstone, founder of Gladstone Gallery, said in a statement. “Her conceptually driven, aesthetically powerful work is unflinching in its call for social justice and equity. She has been profoundly influential as both an artist and a teacher on a generation of artists, and we look forward to bringing her art to a wide public.”

Weems’s most famous works are the photographs in her “Kitchen Table Series” of the 1990s, in which the artist herself appears in a dimly lit kitchen alongside Black men, women, and children. These works question how identity is constructed, highlighting Weems’s actions in them as performances that appear to be done specifically for the camera.

Since the ’90s, Weems’s art has taken a variety of forms, from photographic installations to a film made using the pepper’s ghost technique, in which images are projected such that they appear to be three-dimensional. Her focus has included anti-Black caricatures, intersections of Blackness and femininity, and the harmful legacy of past racist violence.

Her work is currently on view in New York at the Guggenheim Museum in the exhibition “Going

news Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility.”

Gladstone partner Gavin Brown called Weems “an artistic, cultural, and social force whose incredible body of work has catalyzed essential public discourse and continues to inspire artists to join her in tackling the most tenacious issues of our times.”

Sekile M. Nzinga Appointed Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago has announced the appointment of Sekile M. Nzinga as vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In this critical role, Nzinga will advance the School’s commitment to anti-racism and inclusivity, coordinating efforts alongside leadership and those working to foster an anti-racist environment throughout the School. Reporting to the president, the vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion serves as a member of the executive leadership team.

“I am thrilled to accept this role, leading the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in its commitment to advance equity in the arts and education,” said Nzinga. “I look forward to collaborating with the incredible, passionate community to foster a more anti-racist environment that champions inclusivity and equality throughout the institution.”

Nzinga brings a wealth of experience as an intersectional feminist executive leader, having worked across academic, governmental, and not-for-profit sectors. Her most recent position was serving as Illinois’ inaugural chief equity officer, where she played

a pivotal role in establishing the Office of Equity within the Office of Governor.

Prior to her public service, Nzinga served as director of the Women’s Center and interim associate provost for diversity and inclusion/chief diversity officer at Northwestern University. Currently, she holds a tenured professorship in social work and serves as the founding director of Nazareth University’s Women and Gender Studies Bachelor of Arts program.

Nzinga’s extensive interdisciplinary scholarship focuses on Black feminist theory and praxis, reproductive justice, and feminist critiques of

for HigherEdJobs.

Beyond academia, Nzinga is deeply engaged in community initiatives, serving as the board chair for the Chicago Abortion Fund and participating in the Statewide Women’s Justice Taskforce. She also collaborates with various equity-oriented, community-based organizations and cultural institutions throughout Chicago.

“I am elated to welcome Sekile Nzinga as SAIC’s new vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” said President Elissa Tenny.

“With her impressive intersectional background in feminist and anti-racist studies and initiatives, Nzinga will be a pivotal leader in advancing the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s commitment to inclusivity.”

“With her impressive intersectional background in For more than 150 years, the School of the Art Institute of feminist and antiChicago (SAIC) has been a leader in racist studies and educating the world’s most influential artists, designers, and scholinitiatives, Nzinga ars. Located in downtown Chicago will be a pivotal with a fine arts graduate program ranked number two in the nation leader in advancing

by U.S. News and World Report, the School of the Art SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well Institute of Chicago’s as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago commitment to museum, on-campus galleries, and inclusivity.” state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s higher education in the neoliberal era. She is recognized as an inaugural board member for the Journal for Women and Gender Centers in Higher Education, a former member-at-large for the National Women’s Studies Association’s governing council, and a former co-chair of the Gender Justice and Digital Life Global Working Group at the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs. In 2021, she served as the author-in-residence ArtDiction | 11 | November/December 2023

undergraduate, graduate, and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world—as seen through notable alumni and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick Cave, Jeff Koons, and LeRoy Neiman.

Whitney Biennial 2024 Adds Five Curators for Film and Performance Series

news TThe next Whitney Biennial, opening in the spring of 2024, may be its most ambitious edition yet.

The Whitney Museum of American Art announced Thursday that five curators will join Whitney curator Chrissie Iles and Los Angelesbased curator and writer Meg Onli in assembling its upcoming program: Bangkok and New Yorkbased multidisciplinary artist Korakrit Arunanondchai; asinnajaq, an Inuk filmmaker and artist whose practice centers on modern and historical Inuit experiences; Taja Cheek, a musician known for her experimental composition; Greg de Cuir Jr, co-founder and artistic director of Kinopravda Institute in Belgrade, Serbia; and Zackary Drucker, an American multimedia artist and activist, and Whitney Biennial 2014 participant.

According to the museum, Arunanondchai, asinnajaq, de Cuir Jr, and Drucker will select filmmakers who “highlight a breadth of expression through moving images today,” while Cheek (known professionally as L’Rain) will commission a group of artists to develop a cutting-edge performance and sound series for the museum’s galleries and theater. Cheek previously led the performance programs at MoMA PS1, including Sunday Sessions, and Warm Up, its popular summer outdoor music series; she also performed at the Whitney as part of “Kevin Beasley: A view of a landscape”.

“Film, sound, and performance are such significant mediums for both of us, and we look forward to sharing with our audiences an incredibly robust film program that raises questions about the porousness of boundaries and identities, along with a thoughtful curation of live performance that offers a sensorial experience centered around embodiment,” Iles and Onli said in a

ALeft to right: Korakrit Arunanondchai, asinnajaq, Taja Cheek, Greg de Cuir Jr, and Zackary Drucker. COURTESY WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, NEW YORK.

statement.

Titled “Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than the Real Thing”, this will be 81st edition of the Whitney’s signature survey of contemporary

“The strength of this edition is highlighted by the visionary curatorial talent of Meg and Chrissie and the incredible collaborators they have invited to broaden the show’s perspectives and amplify its vitality.” art, which is one of the most anticipated and divisive exhibitions of its kind. The early biennials were organized by medium—with an emphasize on traditional genres like painting and drawing—but the event has evolved into a constellation of conceptually adventurous artworks that challenge even the ArtDiction | 12 | November/December 2023

biennial format. For the last edition, the organizers remodeled the museum’s fifth and sixth floors, removing the walls in the former, and painting the walls and floors black for the latter.

“The Whitney Biennial always champions the creativity, talent, passion, and vision of our time,” Scott Rothkopf, the Whitney’s director, said in a statement. “The strength of this edition is highlighted by the visionary curatorial talent of Meg and Chrissie and the incredible collaborators they have invited to broaden the show’s perspectives and amplify its vitality.”

An official portrait was taken by Antony Armstrong-Jones, the first Earl of Snowdon in 1991, and was widely published in magazines like Life and Hello. That same year, British painter Douglas Hardinge Anderson depicted Diana in the gown in a namesake artwork. The painting now hangs at the Royal Marsden Hospital where Diana visited and served as president.

Alix Gabriel Tig Full Screen Image Gabriel Alix (1930 - 1998) Oil on canvas

rehs.com

exhibits Faith Ringgold: American People Nov 18, 2023 - Feb 25, 2024 Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago Artist, author, educator, and organizer Faith Ringgold is one of the most influential cultural figures of her generation, with a career linking the multidisciplinary practices of the Harlem Renaissance to the political art of young Black artists working today. Faith Ringgold: American People at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago presents the most comprehensive assessment to date of the artist’s impactful vision. For 60 years, Ringgold has drawn from personal autobiography and collective histories to both document her life as an artist and mother and to amplify collective struggles for social justice and equity. From creating some of the most indelible artworks of the civil rights era to challenging accepted hierarchies of art versus craft, Ringgold has produced a body of work that bears witness to the complexity of the American experience.

Featuring Ringgold’s best-known series—such as her experimental story quilts, renowned painting series American People and Black Light, soft sculptures, performance objects, and ephemera related to her activist work—the exhibition examines the artist’s figurative style as it evolved to meet the urgency of political and social change. The exhibition also foregrounds her radical explorations of gender and racial identities, which the artist incorporates into the rich textures of her paintings, soft sculptures, and story quilts. Among the most important artworks of the past half century, Ringgold’s fabric works combine local traditions and global references to compose a polyphonic history of this country.

The MCA’s presentation of Faith Ringgold: American People also

Faith Ringgold (b. 1930, New York, NY), The French Collection Part I, #4: The Sunflowers Quilting Bee at Arles, 1991. Acrylic on canvas with pieced fabric border; 74 × 80 in. (188 × 203.2 cm). Private collection. © 2023 Faith Ringgold / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

includes a section with works from the MCA’s collection that contextualizes Ringgold’s wide-ranging practice in art history with works by artists either influenced by or in conversation with Ringgold or themes in her work. Long overdue, this retrospective provides a timely opportunity to experience the art of an American icon.

The MCA presentation of Faith Ringgold: American People is curated by Jamillah James, Manilow Senior Curator, with Jack Schneider, Assistant Curator. The exhibition was originally organized by the New Museum, New York, and curated

by Massimiliano Gioni, Edlis Neeson Artistic Director, and Gary Carrion-Murayari, Kraus Family Curator, with Madeline Weisburg, Curatorial Assistant.

The exhibition is presented in the Griffin Galleries of Contemporary Art on the museum’s fourth floor.

ArtDiction | 14 | November/December 2023

Judy Pfaff: Picking up the Pieces November 19, 2023–March 24, 2024 Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design Judy Pfaff’s (b. 1946) prolific artistic career spans more than five decades. Highly influential and renowned for her sitespecific installations, Pfaff has ceaselessly reinvented her distinctive visual lexicon, employing conventional and unconventional materials. Like an alchemist, she transforms the mundane and ordinary into something extraordinary and mesmerizing. Pfaff adores investigating materials and handcrafting all her objects as painter, sculptor, carpenter, welder, glassblower, printmaker, and designer. Guided by intuition, Pfaff makes her singular vision concrete by creating surprising combinations of objects that highlight life’s contradictory forces and inherent duality. Her work is a topography of human emotions, the nexus of countless

exhibits storylines linking the events of our time to our personal and collective experiences.

This exhibition, Picking up the Pieces, results from Pfaff’s exploration of Hurricane Ian’s devastating impact on southwestern Florida in September 2022. Sensitive to environmental issues, like the recent and unprecedentedly frequent natural disasters, Pfaff has responded by producing sculptural works. Still, witnessing for herself the devastation at Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island in the wake of the storm left an indelible mark. In the eponymously titled massive sitespecific installation, Picking up the Pieces, Pfaff simulates the storm’s bewildering chaos and tumult, its destructive power, and its aftermath.

The exhibition is divided into two parts. Pulsating with exuberant colors and LED and neon lights interwoven into a bricolage of found objects and paintings, the

first section is Pfaff’s hymn to nature, celebrating the natural beauty and abundance of Florida in particular. Joyful, resplendent references to flowers, vegetation, and light abound in this section’s mixed-media wall and table pieces. The second part of the exhibition is the site-specific installation, Picking up the Pieces. This emotionally charged, powerful environment, with an array of objects hoisted in midair, invites viewers on a visceral journey, a vicarious witnessing of the destruction of human and natural habitats.

The exhibition’s title, Picking up the Pieces,refers to the act of putting life back together, evoking human resilience after a disaster or tragic event. It also alludes to the septuagenarian artist’s own process. Delving into her memories and her artistic repertoire, Pfaff has recycled three-dimensional components of works from decades ago and incorporated them into the new work.

Pablo Picasso. Three Musicians. 1921.

Often regarded as a pioneer of installation art, Pfaff has held more than 100 solo exhibitions in the United States and abroad and received numerous prestigious awards, including the International Sculpture Center’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2014) and a MacArthur Fellowship (2004). She represented the United States in the 1998 São Paulo Biennial.

Judy Pfaff: Picking up the Pieces is dedicated to Museum Founder, Artist, and Muse, Peppi Elona.

This exhibition is organized by Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design, curated

by Rangsook Yoon, Ph.D., senior curator, Sarasota Art Museum.

Picasso in Fontainebleau Through February 17, 2024 MoMA

Judy Pfaff. Installation of Picking up the Pieces.

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Pablo Picasso spent much of the summer of 1921 in a garage. Inside this unlikely studio in a rented villa in Fontainebleau, France, he worked prolifically to create a startling body of work. Among his most astonishing creations were two radically different, six-foot-high canvases that he painted side-by-side within weeks of each other: Three Women at the Spring and Three Musicians. Picasso in Fontainebleau will reunite these two monumental paintings,

exhibits along with other works from the artist’s pivotal three-month stay at the improvised studio, complemented by photographs and archival documents.

Picasso’s simultaneous pursuit of disparate styles had enveloped the art world in controversy for several years. Had Picasso progressed or regressed? Was he avant-garde or academic? Revolutionary or reactionary? Critics were divided.

These questions speak to the ways in which Picasso’s Fontainebleau output defies categorization and disrupts expectations of how artists evolve.

The exhibition will present four monumental canvases—two versions of Three Women at the Spring and two of Three Musicians—along with other paintings, drawings, pastels, and etchings made during the artist’s brief stay in Fontainebleau. Rarely seen photographs of the studio and the Picasso family will further contextualize the artist’s day-to-day life and artistic practice.

The exhibition will also explore new discoveries about the process and experimental spirit that mark Picasso’s work in Fontainebleau.

Organized by Anne Umland, The Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture, with Alexandra Morrison, Curatorial Assistant, and Francesca Ferrari, former Mellon-Marron Research Consortium Fellow, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the artist’s death, MoMA’s exhibition is included in the international Picasso Celebration 1973–2023, with the exceptional support of the Musée National Picasso–Paris.

Perpetual Motion Through May 31, 2023 Pérez Art Museum Miami Perpetual Motion explores how the nonstop technological change

Claudix Vanesix. Amy Camus AR, 2021. Digital color video, with sound, 4 min., 01 sec. © Claudix Vanesix. Courtesy of the artist.

permeating daily life impacts the dynamic activity of contemporary artists. In the continuously evolving domain of media art where interdisciplinary crossovers occur within the fields of film, video, music, sound, and performance, innovative use of the latest audiovisual tools is the new normal. Moreover, the moving image is one of the most vital art forms, and has become ubiquitous on smartphones, viewed in compressed durations in tandem with shortened attention spans.

Drawn from the ever evolving, inventive field of media art, each of the videos engages and inspires. In this moment of recalibration, new ideas about society and community have come to the fore.

The ten moving-image works featured in this streaming exhibition range between two and eleven minutes in length. Drawn from the ever evolving, inventive field of media art, each of the videos engages and inspires. In this moment of recalibration, new ideas about society and community have come to the fore. The selected works leave the viewer with as many questions as answers, which is what all art should do.

Participating artists include Kamari Carter, Richard Garet, Bang Geul Han, Cornelia Parker, Wong Ping, Zina Saro-Wiwa, Aki Sasamoto, Joey Skaggs, Federico Solmi, and Claudix Vanesix.

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Perpetual Motion will be available for streaming on PAMMTV where viewers around the world are able to access cutting-edge video art through their web browsers, mobile phones, tablets, or Apple TV.

exhibits About Barbara London Barbara London is a New Yorkbased curator, writer, and scholar who founded the video exhibition and collection programs at the Museum of Modern Art, where she served as a curator from 1973 to 2013. At MoMA, London organized exhibitions with such media mavericks as Laurie Anderson, Nam June Paik, Teiji Furuhashi, Joan Jonas, Shigeko Kubota, and Zhang Peili.

Her thematic exhibitions included “Soundings: A Contemporary Score” (2013); “Looking at Music” (2009); and “Video from Tokyo to Fukui and Kyoto” (1979). She was the first to integrate the internet into curatorial practice, through such projects as Stir-Fry (1994, http://www.adaweb.com/context/ stir-fry/) and dot.jp. (1999). London recently published Video/Art: The First Fifty Years (Phaidon, 2020) and curated the exhibition “Seeing Sound” (Independent Curators International, 2021–26). Her writing has appeared in numerous catalogues and publications. She has taught courses on media as art at Columbia University, Yale, New York University, and the School of Visual Arts.

Sagebrush and Solitude: Maynard Dixon in Nevada March 2 - July 28, 2024 Nevada Museum of Art

Maynard Dixon, The Shores of Lahontan, 1935. Oil on canvas, 29 ½ x 39 3/8 1inches.

to his month-long commission documenting the construction of the Boulder Dam (now known as the Hoover Dam) in Las Vegas in 1934, Dixon captured the beauty of Nevada’s open spaces as well as its developing landscape. Among Dixon’s favorite painting subjects were old homesteads, wild horses, and stands of cottonwood trees, all of which figure prominently into over 100 paintings that will be included in this historic exhibition.

Sagebrush and Solitude: Maynard Dixon in Nevada is the first comprehensive exhibition and book to document the early wanderings and exFrom 1901 to 1939, Dixon tended visits of the accomplished painter Maynard Dixon to the state made several trips from of Nevada, Lake Tahoe, and the Eastern Sierra. From 1901 to 1939, his San Francisco home Dixon made several trips from his to paint and sketch the San Francisco home to paint and striking landscapes of sketch the striking landscapes of the Great Basin and Sierra Nevada. the Great Basin and He also wrote numerous poems Sierra Nevada. during his time in the American West. From Dixon’s first Nevada This exhibition is curated by Ann M. sketching trip on horseback with Wolfe, Andrea and John C. Deane fellow artist Edward Borein in 1901, ArtDiction | 17 | November/December 2023

Family Chief Curator and Associate Director, with scholarly contributions from Donald J. Hagerty, an independent scholar and author of six books on Dixon, including Desert Dreams: The Art and Life of Maynard Dixon. John Ott, professor of art history at James Madison University will contribute an essay on representations of labor and race in Dixon’s Boulder Dam paintings. Ann Keniston, professor of English with a specialty in American Poetry at the University of Nevada, Reno, will write on Dixon’s poems within the context of Modern poetry.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a 288-page book published by Rizzoli Electa in New York. The book will be designed by award-winning designer Brad Bartlett in Los Angeles.

Art, Trauma & Rebuilding

T

hrough the use of mixed media and watercolor, Tori Kovarik creates abstract images and landscapes and explores experiences of trauma and the constant acts of recreating and rebuilding that follow trauma. “I do this to bear witness to the harsh realities of experiencing trauma and the hard work of processing and healing from trauma,” Tori says. “I primarily address threats against one’s personhood and agency and the resulting mental health and interpersonal issues that frequently arise in the aftermath.”

Tori has loved creating art since she was a child, taking art classes all through high school and enrolling in one art class during her freshman year of college. However, she shifted her focus to poetry for a number of years.

“After college I was very focused on poetry as my primary creative practice but began incorporating painting in my poetic practice by meditating on the concepts and subjects I was writing about while painting abstract pieces, which was new for me,” she recalls.

Mixed media abstract art became very

important as she processed traumatic experiences and began writing about them in poetry. She began dabbling in watercolor after attending a short class with an artist in Vermont, and it has now become the other primary medium that she uses in her art.

Tori’s poetry and visual art are frequently in dialogue with one another and circle similar themes in a given time period. The combination of visual art and poetry help her more fully process and articulate an idea. “I particularly enjoy the way a poem highlights the thoughts behind a piece of art and a piece of art lends intensity and atmosphere to the reading of a poem.”

Tori has been learning and experimenting on her own with abstract art and different mediums since returning to visual art after college. One particular aspect she has been exploring in her recent work is the reclamation of control. “I do this by adding elements I cannot control to my work, like thrown paint or adding coffee grounds to a canvas to alter the flow and color of ink as it dries,” she says. “By introducing

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Spectrum Yellow

some random, uncontrolled elements, I create scenarios where I am forced to reimagine how a piece will evolve and claim control of it again. For me this mirrors the experience of rebuilding after the severe interruption of trauma and finding a new way to live after a traumatic experience.”

Tori shares that her most recent work has been inspired by the intensity of trauma and the frustratingly nonlinear process of healing from trauma. “I have been focused on this in a broad sense, creating from my own experiences with trauma and healing, as well as the experiences of others I know and bearing witness to traumas and the struggle of communities to heal on a larger scale,” she explains.

When creating, she occasionally approaches a piece with specific themes or subject matter in mind. Other times

a focal color or color palette or mark makings lead Tori down a creative path.

“Each approach lends to a different process as the work develops,” she says. Although she frequently uses brushes, palette knives, eye droppers, and a spray bottle, Tori likes to mix things up by using fabric dipped in ink or paint, coffee grounds, sticks, and metallic gel pens. “I try to continually introduce new tools and elements to my art, creating uncontrolled and unexpected things to force me to reimagine how I’ll move forward.”

To see the most up-to-date of Tori’s artwork and works in progress, follow her on Instagram (@tlanekovarik). To view original arts and prints for sale, visit her website at torilanekovarik.com.

Some of Tori’s work is available for purchase at vikavisualarts.org/torikovarik.

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Untitled

I Am Mine

Regrowth

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Incoming

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Through the Shadows

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Forecast

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Marrying Art, Culture & Religion Zehra Batool is a native Maryland multimedia artist, whose work is heavily centered around her identity as a Pakistani American Muslim. She hopes that one day, through her art she is able to express, share, and enlighten others about Islam and its vast cultures.

Today, Zehra likes to be fluid in her art, working with all mediums—oils, acrylics, and watercolors; colored pencils and charcoals; pastels and markers. “I think that there’s magic in every art medium, and I think that limiting myself to one would be quite criminal and incredibly gloomy.”

Zehra is a self-taught artist and continues to perfect her craft by experimenting and pushing beyond her limits and her comfort zone.

Although she never attended art school, Zehra recalls a moment in fourth grade that gave her the spark to pursue art. “I was finishing up a project on pointillism when [my teacher] was walking by, and she abruptly halted, bringing the canvas to her eyes. I had thought that I had done something wrong but when I looked up, all I saw was the tenderness in her eyes,” she shares. “I remember her walking away with that one painting and coming back with two things in her hands—the painting and a flyer for an art show. She sat next to me, held my hand and told me she’d be putting my work in the show as a representative to our school, class, and grade. I remember her exclaiming passionately that I was a born artist and that I must always keep a pencil in my hand. I’ll never forget that.”

Zehra finds her creative inspiration in everything, each day and says that finding joy in the little things is a big part of her life.” Finding value and beauty in the normal, in the mundane, is poetic,” she says.

Zehra never follows the same creative process when beginning a new piece. She believes that would limit her ability to create art at the highest level. “If there’s no change in routine, then there’s nothing to challenge you. Which means that you will neither be elevated or deflated in your skills, just stagnant. Which is the worst thing that could happen to an artist,” Zehra explains. “You always want to be improving, evolving. That is why every new art piece that I create is a work of art that I’ve experienced for the first time. There’s so much that you can find when you leave your eyes, mind, heart, and soul open.

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I think that is a daily goal of mine. Listening, learning and creating something new every day.”

Aspects of Zehra’s faith and culture are an important part of her creative expression. “Growing up in the states as an American Muslim, is painful to navigate to say the least. It’s a target on your back.

It’s the insecurity of proper practice.

It’s colliding paths and clashing roads,” she shares. “But I think that growing up Muslim in America has taught me the importance of believing in something, more than anything. We all need to believe in something, as humans. With my art, I want my adoration of my culture and faith to bleed through the paints onto the canvas. I want the impact of the beliefs I hold to be seen with every brush stroke and every color. The importance of family, love, values, community, and perspective.”

Zehra adds that she wants her art to be a breath of relief to every Muslim that has the chance to see her work and for them to find peace in knowing that there is someone who is making their story known, heard, and seen. “I want my work to be a reflection of my love and devotion to my culture, religion, and community.

Humans are beautiful creatures created with a greater purpose than most would admit. I believe my purpose is to show future generations that we were here. We existed, we lived, we loved, we wept, and we found meaning.”

life. I am incredibly honored to have been chosen for this chance to show my passion,” she says. “To be able to pursue my dreams and have that become a reality is incredible. I will always remember this moment, I’ll always look back at this moment with boundless love and joy.”

Zehra is currently creating a rose petal series in memory of her late paternal and maternal grandparents. “In respect and commemoration of them, I’ve dedicated one painting for each one—all of whom have left me with the greatest gift anyone could have ever given me, hope. Hope to find the strength and power within myself to fight for my life, to fight for my dreams and to fight for me,” Zehra says.

“I hold their words and wisdom very near and dear to my heart. They are the very affirmations I repeat morning and night, like a prayer to my soul. All of my strength comes from the remnants of their love for me. It is the very ground I walk on, my anchor, my answer, and my salvation.”

To follow Zehra’s journey, meet her on Instagram (@zeezuarts) where she posts her work, process, and a bit about her life, “It’s my visual journal. I’m in the process of creating a website. Once completed, I plan to make an announcement on my Instagram.” Some of Zehra’s work is also available for purchase at vikavisualarts.org/zehrabatool.

As an emerging artist, Zehra says her greatest accomplishment to date has been being accepted into the Vika Visual Arts Association artist development program.. “I am incredibly thankful that this is my first step into the art world, professionally. It’s a tremendous milestone for me, something I’ve prayed for my whole

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Eva Hild Photography by Anna Sigge

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Afrofuturistic Storytelling

J

ames Flowers is a visual artist with a neoclassic style with a hint of Afrofuturism.

Each piece of his art tells a story as he uses oil to paint portraits of African Americans on steel--a unique and futuristic medium. The steel sheets are mounted against and slightly elevated above a black frame. “A frame is something that’s meant to define you and restrain you or confine you, and I lift my pieces above the frame to show that we can rise above those things that attempt to confine us,” James explains.

James developed this style after spending time experimenting with mediums. Along the way, he discovered steel sheets, but it was the history behind the steel that added to his style of telling stories with his art. “Since the Industrial Revolution, steel has built this country. It’s in our roads, our bridges, our buildings, and our cars. It’s everywhere. You can consider it the backbone of this nation,” James explains.

“I liken that to my subjects. My subjects are African-American men and women, and since that same time period, we were instrumental in building this country. I consider us, historically, to be the backbone of this nation. Also, steel is created. It’s not a metal that’s found in one place. You combine more than one metal together, apply heat to them, and then you come up with this very strong material. That’s what happened with African Americans. We came from all over the diaspora to this place, amalgamated together,

were under extreme heat, extreme pressure, but under all of that, we combined to create something powerful.”

Oftentimes, James goes directly to a steel maker to get the steel he needs cut for the exact size for his portrait. He prefers hot-rolled steel because of the warped effect it creates. “I also use different type of effects. I’ll leave them outside so that they can get rained on, covered with the elements. I’ll pick them up, and they’ll have different patterns on them,” he says. “They’ll have patina, rust on them, and that, to me, is a sign of imperfections. But it’s also beauty, and it’s just like us, just like my subjects. All of our imperfections combine to make us who we are, and there’s always some beauty in our imperfections.”

James’ art focuses mostly on portraiture. He sees a subject in every character he paints and that’s something he loves to seek out and find.

He adds: “I’m just so captivated by the beauty of people, especially, our people, my subjects.

I love skin. I love the way the light reflects off of skin. I love the angles of the face. The human visage and facial features are just amazing to me, and I love discovering new characters.”

James relates that portraiture has its challenges at times, such as when you can’t quite capture the true character of a subject. “Portraiture can be very scientific. There’s angles. There’s shapes. There’s light. There’s shading. Every-

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Levitatiion

thing about the science of a portrait can create a replica of a person,” he explains. “However, if you don’t know that person, and if you haven’t experienced that person in face-to-face or in person for a long enough time, it can be difficult to capture the characteristics of a person.”

Because of this, James says he prefers to actually meet the person himself, and take the photographs of his subject himself. “This gives me a chance to browse through a gallery of hundreds of pictures of that person posing, close up shots of that person, and sometimes a video of that person interacting, because it gives me that character.”

James is inspired by the beauty of the character he has the opportunity to reflect with his art “I want people to be able to see that, but also, I want people to be able to see themselves and their experiences in my portraits. I want peo-

ple to see themselves and their experiences through what I’m trying to show them.,” he says.

“That’s one of the benefits of using metal. Sometimes, that metal is a reflective surface, and so we can see ourselves in what it is that I created.”

James concludes, “One of my favorite things to do is to go on a safari. My kids go, and every time we go, we look at these amazing animals.

To experience a person should be the same way and the same amazement, and sometimes, I feel like, as artists, especially portrait artists, we do that. We bring that to people.”

To see more of James’ art, follow him on Instagram (@jflowart). Some of his artwork is also available for purchase at vikavisualarts.org/ jamesflowers.

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Lens Flare

Crown Chakra Stefanie Rocknak The King

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Parabola

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Aesthetic Appeal

Tetrahedron 1

Redemptioin Rain

Emotional Expressions

E

anaj Janae is a self-taught artist originally from Southern California that uses her captivating art to spotlight the Black community’s struggles and triumphs, including mental health challenges and the strength required to endure. Often incorporating color and vibrant expressions, Eanaj Janae gives the feeling of joy, being happy, and being seen in her art as well.

“I think that my purpose for my art is to showcase Black culture in a positive way. I think, a lot of times, Black culture is presented in a certain manner, and that’s very limiting,” she says.

“We’re not supposed to like anime, or we’re not supposed to be able to venture outside of the struggle that they like to put onto Black culture.

But our American culture is basically Black culture. So, there’s so many things that we could be representative of, and I try to do that in my artwork.

Eanaj Janae likens venturing into an art piece to a child coming alive at any given time. She recalls being an adventurous child, always creating, doodling and drawing over her homework. “I used to do things like jump off the side of the banister, and I was fearless. I think as we get older, being an adult, we kind of step away from being that childlike manner,” she says. “So I think me being an artist is me trying to get back to being spontaneous saying ‘Hey, there’s somebody in there that you used to know. Let’s see what she would like to say.’”

Eanaj Janae shares that she’s always thought of art as therapy. The process of creation, the repetition of painting or moving or maneuvering things, and placing something from inside your mind onto a canvas is a way of healing, she

believes. “I’ve always thought that art should be taught in that way because it would help our mental awareness and mental health. I’m not very good with words, but I was able to communicate through art.”

Eanaj Jane covers a wide range of topics with her art, including the complexity of time and how to navigate it, and her interpretation of inspirational gospel music, and love and hate songs. However, not all of the subjects in her art are what she is personally going through. “I think sometimes, it’s more than just me. I think that my art is supposed to be helping more than myself, so I will navigate other people’s issues that I probably haven’t or haven’t had the chance to go through personally.

One of Eanaj Janae’s most recent bodies of work was for the group exhibition, Healing, Connection and Preservation. Her series focused on relief. “That is something that was very personal to me. I was having some sort of physical pain and not knowing how to get rid of it or move past it,” she shares. “I wanted to kind of personify that moment when the world feels like it’s crashing down, everything’s heavy, and you get that moment of relief. It’s almost a bit euphoric. I wanted to capture that moment in this series with different types of relief, not just the physical type, but emotional too. I just want you to feel something and be present in the moment.”

To see more art, Follow Eanaj Janae on Instagram (@eanajjanaeart). To purchase Eanaj Janae’s work, go to vikavisualarts.org/eanajjanae or merakidynasty.com.

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Whispers of Relief

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Release Me

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Mirta Arbini November Lovers’ Moon

Mirta Arbini Ginkgo

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Belonging, Home & Connection

B

rittany Mona’ Brown Combining elements of neo-expressionism, graffiti and African art, Brittany’s a multidisciplinary artist that creates abstract images and figures of the Black diaspora, to celebrate, uplift, and communicate complex emotions of Blackness and its intersectionality.

Q: When and how did you realize that you were an artist?

A: An artist overall? Always! My first love is acting. When I was younger, I would watch shows like “All That” and knew I was meant to do that. I even did a commercial. I pursued acting through community college and after that, life happened, you know? I started pursuing photography shortly after, which I was pretty bad at. So thank you to everyone who gave me opportunities. I always had a type of curiosity and enjoyment for art but never thought about pursuing art until sometime in 2022. I would share paintings on social media and the feedback encouraged me to pivot and pursue art professionally. I found some much freedom and enjoyment in creating, and the thought of sharing my visions was scary and exciting.

Q: Do you have an educational background in art, or are you self-taught? Please explain.

A: Baby, I have no idea! lol I’m self-taught, which, at first, I found intimidating, but everyone has to start somewhere, right? I research, I network, 99% of my art is experimental at this point in my journey and I watch A LOT of videos through social media platforms. There is a lot of trial and error and with that I have made some

beautiful pieces, I learned to lean into my creative intuition, and I also started over so many times. Most times, I don’t know how a piece will turn out but I can’t be afraid to try, to trust the process and start over if I have to. There are a lot of great artists on social media who share so many valuable techniques and information, which I appreciate. My favorite artist that creates content for other artists is named Thomas Evans or @detour303 on social media. I appreciate you!

Q: When and how did you become interested in your particular art medium?

A: Oh, I don’t have one! Maybe it’s the attention span; maybe it’s the way a combination of mediums feels more captivating when I’m thinking about a piece. But it’s very rare I use one particular medium when creating a piece and stick to one form. One day, I may want to create a digital piece, and the next — wood layered peice — then sometimes I want a combination. I want to always feel free when creating, so I explore several mediums, which can become a challenge for someone trying to define my “style”. Although I believe my style is defined, it’s just not limited by visual presentation. Spray paint, engravings, oil pastels, acrylic paint, ink and acrylic markers are common combinations with pieces on canvas and wood. Photography, mixed-media digital art, clay and wood burn art are mediums I created from as well.

Q: In what ways does your art tell the stories of the Black diaspora?

A: My art ties together experiences, patterns, colors, and images within the diaspora. Navigat-

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Stefanie Rocknak The Swimmer

My Ancestors’ Vessel

ing and encouraging Black liberation through visual depictions and influences of Black culture, community, sustainability, joy, and expression.

I tie many stories into one, so more stories are told, shared, and identified. Black people and culture is not a monolith. Our stories are deep, vast, light, heavy, textured and joyful, powerful, and beautiful, complex. And my art reflects that.

Q: What are some of your favorite art tools?

A: Jigsaw. I look forward to getting a scroll saw, but I like cutting shapes. I’m also a huge fan of using a rotary tool for engravings, and sanding.

Q: What are some messages you hope your audience takes away after viewing your art?

A: A feeling of belonging, home, connection, beauty, and curiosity.

Q: What inspires your creativity?

A: In no particular order — kids, black grand mas, music, writers, poets, storytellers. I’m inspired by everyday life through the lens of Black people and my own personal experiences as well as hoodoo, black culture and traditions, African spirituality, and the everyday black person. I love bringing and displaying the beauty of black people and everyday life.

Q: Do you follow the same creative process when you create art?

A: I wish! There may be periods where I have a creative routine that works for what I’m creating, but it’s always different. All of my pieces have been created free-hand, and, because I work full-time, the process always fluctuates. Sometimes I can jump into a piece; sometimes I need time to brainstorm. But the one thing that stays consistent, is that I always ask my ancestors for guidance during my process. I also have to have headphones playing music when creating. I wish I had a better visual, but I’m in a home studio with limited time and tight space. I just make do.

I even cut my plywood in my small apartment with my jigsaw — I DO NOT RECOMMEND!

A: I’m currently a part of the Phillips Collection digital intersection art exhibit. This is a part of the Digital Window Exhibition series at Phillips@ THEARC This exhibit runs through January 2024. I was also a part of WMATA Art in Transit Digital Exhibition. WMATA, the TORRENTS digital art exhibition will be featured at the Crystal City, Farragut North, NoMa-Gallaudet, U Street, Gallery Place - Chinatown, L’Enfant Plaza, and Metro Center stations in Washington D.C. for one month, which started in November 2023.

Q: What are some of your proudest accomplishments in your art career thus far?

A: Continuing to “Do it Scared,” do it when I’m nervous, and doing it when I don’t feel ready. To continue to pursue art without outside influences of what it should be and enjoying what is. I’m proud that I’m doing all the things in my art journey that I said I would do. Like making a website, creating art, studying forms of art, exploring my style(s), networking. All of that has led me here.

Somewhere I didn’t even think I would be doing.

I’m proud that I trusted myself fully to commit to the journey and it has birthed beautiful opportunities and moments. Doing the work and committing to the follow through, even when I didn’t feel like it. Moments like this, where I see my hard work pay off in different forms, art, exhibitions, purchases, interest,. letters of acceptance. Those are the moments. I never give up on me, there have been so many NO’s for so many reasons but I knew my time was coming, I read someone that no stood for next opportunity and that’s what I told myself. My proudest accomplishment is not giving in to giving up.

Q: Where is the best place for a person to view your portfolio?

A: Instagram and TikTok if you’re interested in the process: @Brittanymonacreates. If you’re interested in art pieces, brittanymona.com.

------Some of Brittany Mona’s pieces are available for purchase at vikavisualarts.org/brittanymona.

Q: Are there any future projects that you are working on that you would like to share with our readers?

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Keep the Lights On, Black Homes

Deconstruct, Brilliant Stefanie Rocknak The King

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Three Wise Men

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Ends Meet

My Brother’s Keeper

artist & ad index Page 28 Zehra Batool vikavisualarts.org/zehrabatool Page 50 Brittany Mona’ Brown brittanymona.com Page 3 C. Grimaldis Gallery cgrimaldisgallery.com Page 4 Eanaj Jane merakidynasty.com.

Page 36 James Flowers vikavisualarts.org/jamesflowers/ C3 Jonathan Ferrara Gallery https://www.ferrarashowman.com Page 18 Tori Kovarik torilanekovarik.com Page 13 Rehs Galleries Inc. rehs..com C2 RoGallery

rogallery.com

C4 Vika Visual Arts Association vikavisualarts.org

ArtDiction | 58 | November/December 2023

ANDREW LYMAN The Anhinga, 2022 oil on canvas ferrarashowman.com