Exhibitions

Tawny Chatmon Exhibits at Fotografiska

Tawny Chatmon Exhibits at Fotografiska, New York, NY

December 14, 2019 – March 22, 2020

Tawny Chatmon

Inheritance

”Our children inherit what we don’t resolve” anonymous

Inheritance, by Tawny Chatmon (American, b. 1979), invites the viewer to look beyond the decorated and nuanced portraits to examine issues of race and the historical positioning of African American portraiture in the absence of subjugation of the “black body” in Western art.

Chatmon, a mother of three black children, draws from her life experiences and belief that children inherit our memories, beliefs, traditions, and the world that we leave behind. Through her photographs, she conveys a message to her children, and to all black children, that they are precious, valued, and loved.

While the camera is her primary tool of communication, Chatmon takes a multi-layered approach in producing her photographs—her process does not subscribe to conventional photography. The photographs are often manipulated and hand-embellished with acrylic paint and 24-karat gold leaf, inspired by Gustav Klimt’s (1862-1918) “Golden Phase.” The use of gold and ornamentation in Klimt’s work evokes feelings of grace, magnificence, and beauty within Chatmon and has remained in the artist’s consciousness. These are the emotions Chatmon seeks to convey to those viewing her photographs. Her portraits are staged vignettes with models, who at times are her own children, wearing elegant garments. Chatmon experiments with various art practices and does not restrict herself to follow any set of rules, allowing her to create instinctually and fluidly. The result is a beautiful and powerful iconography that speaks to “the disparities that continue to affect black people around the world.”

This exhibition presents three bodies of work: The Awakening, Byzantine Contempo, and The Redemption. In these series, Chatmon celebrates the beauty of black childhood, African American culture, and the delicate intricacies of protecting and raising a black child in today’s world. Each series is a conversation on love, nurturing, and the familial bond; a commentary on the politics of blackness; the historical portrayal of the black body; and an investigation of Renaissance and Byzantine portraiture. In combating the negative stereotyping associated with natural hairstyles and adornments that are distinctively likened to black people and culture, Chatmon glorifies various styles: afros, locs, twists, and barbershop cuts revered in black communities. Embedded within the works are messages of embracing one’s beauty and cultural pride.

Text by Myrtis Bedolla. Edited by Grace Noh and Amanda Hajjar.

Inheritance is organized by Fotografiska, in collaboration with the artist and Galerie Myrtis.

Fotografiska
281 Park Ave South
New York, NY 10010 United States

about the exhibition | press | about Tawny

Exhibitions

Reparations: Some Things are Just Owed and Some More…

Reparations: Some Things are Just Owed
and
Some More than Others


Solo Exhibition featuring Wesley Clark
September 22 – October, 31, 2019

artist statement | curatorial statement | about Wesley Clark

Through a revolutionary intellectual process, Wesley Clark (1979) in his first solo exhibition at Galerie Myrtis creates a fantastical world of interwoven history, Afro-futurists, coded messages and mechanisms for survival in his investigation of what America owes the descendants of slaves and most importantly, what they owe themselves.

In Reparations: Some Things are just Owed and Some More than Others Clark probes the vestiges of slavery by transporting viewers to the reconstruction era (1865-1877) where they discover Reparations & Co. (a. k. a. Rep & Co.), a company established by Rep. & Co. Brothers, Morris and Eugene. As protagonists in Clark’s fictional world, the Rep. & Co. Brothers deploy their carpentry skills and ability to see into the future to invent devices for coping with racial discrimination, social injustice, and trauma; while offering African Americans tools to navigate and survive in a society that deems them as “other.”
read full Curatorial Statement by Myrtis Bedolla

The Tell-All Earbox: Model no. C3l3stial-4
Urethane paint, wood, 8-1/2″ x 10-1/2″ x 9″, 2019

Artwork

Exhibitions

Art of the Collectors VII

Art of the Collectors VII

July 27 – August 31, 2019


Collectors Panel Discussion: Saturday, August 24th, 5:00-7:00 pm. – The Preservation of Art, Culture, and Legacy – Panelists: Amath Gomis, Gregory Morton and William Robinson. Moderator: Myrtis Bedolla

video: Collectors Panel Discussion

Art of the Collectors VII features works of art created by 20th and 21st century African and African American artists previously held in institution and private collections. Artists: Akili Ron Anderson, Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, John Biggers, Ernest Crichlow, Sam Gilliam, Lois Mailou Jones, Jacob Lawrence, Ulysses Marshall, Valerie Maynard, Jonathan Pinkett, Frank Smith, Hughie Lee Smith, Lou Stovall, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Delilah Pierce, Stephanie Pogue, Faith Ringgold, Cullen Washington, Jr., James Lesesne Wells, Lorna Williams, Curtis Woody, Falaka Armide Yimer, and Purvis Young.

Faith Ringgold, Grooving High
Color Silkscreen 48/425, 35″ x 49″, Framed, 1996
Provenance: Johnetta B. Cole Collection

Artwork

Artist

Delita Martin – I Look For You

Delita Martin

artwork | video | statement | bio | resume

I Look for You

Galerie Myrtis is pleased to offer I Look for You, a varied limited edition print by Delita Martin. Created in an edition of 25, the prints vary slightly as each has been hand sown by Martin. Included with the purchase of each print is a limited edition copy of Delita’s new book, Shadows in the Garden. Each book has been signed and numbered by Delita.
Varied Print Edition: 25 – Book Edition Size: 25
Price: Contact Gallery

Shadows In The Garden focuses on the work of Texas based artist Delita Martin. It highlights works from several exhibitions and works held in various collections. Contents include an introductory essay by artist and curator Vicki Meek. artist interview with Joshua Asante, Essays by Dr. Kheli R. Willetts and Gary Reece, and select bibliography. With full color reproductions of all works.
 
 

book preview
 
 
 
I Look For You, Relief Printing, Stibilo Pencil, Acrylic, Lithography, Liquid Gold Leaf, Decorative Papers, Fabric, Hand Stitching, 15 x 20

Detail
Exhibitions

Blackface Artwork

Blackface: A Reclamation of Beauty, Power and Narrative

April 20 – June 15, 2019

about the exhibition | exhibition essay

Featured artists: Tawny Chatmon, Alfred Conteh, Jerrell Gibbs, Karina Griffith, Jas Knight, Arvie Smith and Felandus Thames.
Exhibition essay by Halima Taha. Curated by Myrtis Bedolla and Jessica Stafford Davis

Artwork

Exhibitions

Building Bridges II The Politics of Love – Identity…

Building Bridges II: The Politics of Love, Identity and Race

13th Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba
April 12 – May 12, 2019

Galeria Carmen Montilla – photo by Chris Bedolla

Location
Galeria Carmen Montilla
Norma Jimenez Iradiz, Directora
Calle de los Oficios No. 162, Old Havana
Opening Reception: April 13, 2019, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Curators Myrtis Bedolla and Ana Joa reunite for the second iteration of Building Bridges II: The Politics of Love, Identity, and Race. In bridging peoples, politics, and cultures, the exhibition investigates the dogma of love, gender politics, and prevailing assumptions about identity and race. We thank Eusebio Leal Spengler, Old Havana Restoration Project for his support.

Los curadores Myrtis Bedolla y Ana Joa se reúnen para la segunda versión de Haciendo Puentes II: La Política del Amor, la Identidad y la Raza. Al unir a los pueblos, la política y las culturas, la exposición investiga el dogma del amor, la política de género y los supuestos prevalentes sobre la identidad y la raza. Agradecemos a Eusebio Leal Spengler, Havana Vieja Restauracion Proyecto por su apoyo.

American Artists: Tawny Chatmon, Wesley Clark, Larry Cook, Alfred Conteh, Anna U. Davis, Morel Doucet, Vance Gragg, Susan Goldman, Michael Gross, Ronald Jackson, M. Scott Johnson, and Delita Martin.

Cuban Artists: Julia Valdés Borrero, Luis Jorge Joa, Daylene Rodriquez Moreno, Caridad Ramos Mosquera, Zaida del Rio, Eduardo Roca Salazar (Choco), Alicia Leal Veloz, and Jorge Jacas Vivanco.

Artwork

Photos

Catalog

Michael Gross – Abstraction Catalogue

Michael Gross: Abstraction

Price: $20.00 USD + S&H

Michael Gross, painter and printmaker, offers expressive and emotionally filled works using a kaleidoscope of color. Gross creates art as “a means of grappling with the impulses and struggles that make up the way I see my place in the world.” Through his visual lexicon, which is devoid of ideological reference, Gross seeks to create order from chaos. His lyrical compositions of concatenated lines, textured surfaces and rich hues, invoke Abstract Expressionism and pay homage to artists who inspire his work: Willem de Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn and Jackson Pollock.

Exhibitions

Black Face: A Reclamation of Beauty, Power and Narrative

Blackface: A Reclamation of Beauty, Power, and Narrative


April 20 – June 15, 2019

Artists’ Talk: June 15th, 6:00 – 8:00 pm

exhibition essay by Halima Taha

Curators: Myrtis Bedolla and Jessica Stafford Davis

Galerie Myrtis and The Agora Culture present Blackface: A Reclamation of Beauty, Power, and Narrative. In asserting the beauty of the black body, affirming its power — and societal and historical place, curators Myrtis Bedolla and Jessica Stafford Davis offer a counter narrative to the racist archetypes that evolved from 18th century minstrelsy, and its negative stereotyping of African Americans that prevails today.

The exhibition explores contemporary notions of black identity through photography by Tawny Chatmon, and painters Alfred Conteh, Jerrell Gibbs, and Jas Knight; and offers an investigation of blackface from a historical perspective presented in paintings by Arvie Smith and multidisciplinary works by Felandus Thames. The addition of a compiling video by filmmaker Karina Griffith captured in Berlin, Germany evokes the maligning of blackness through an international lens.

In addressing the insidious nature of minstrelsy and the appropriation of black culture — to deploy and rationalize the subjugation of African Americans for financial gain, Frederick Douglass described blackface performers as:

“…the filthy scum of white society, who have stolen from us a complexion, denied them by nature, in which to make money, and pander to the corrupt taste of their white fellow citizens.”
Lott, Eric (1993). Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class. New York: Oxford University Press.

Artwork

Artist Talk

Between Spirits and Sisters – Film Screening – Daughters…

Between Spirits and Sisters by Delita Martin

 
Film Screening: Daughters of the Dust
Parkway Theater
5 W. North Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21201

film trailer | artwork

Galerie Myrtis invites you to join Myrtis Bedolla in conversation with artist Delita Martin who will discuss the Julie Dash’s 1991 film Daughters of the Dust, and its influence on her work and current series Between Spirits and Sisters.

The program will begin with an introduction of the movie by curator of film, Sterling Warren who will talk about its cultural and historical significance. Warren’s talk will be followed by the screening of Daughters of the Dust. At the conclusion of the film, Bedolla and Martin will engage in dialogue as Martin reflects on the bond amongst women in her family, how those relationships are reflected in her work, and her quest to preserve traditions that have been passed down through generations.

Left Image: Still image from Daughters of the Dust, 1991
Right Image: Delita Martin, Blue Dress and Colored Dreams, Gelatin printing, acrylic, hand-stitching, and conte, 84″ x 53″, 2015.

Meet The Artist

Delita Martin is an artist currently based in Huffman, Texas. She received a BFA in drawing from Texas Southern University and an MFA in printmaking from Purdue University. Formerly a member of the Fine Arts faculty at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Martin currently works as a full-time artist in her studio, Black Box Press.
read full bio

Martin’s solo exhibition Between Spirits and Sisters is currently on view at Galerie Myrtis until February 2, 2019.

The Film


Daughters of the Dust: Members of the Peazant family struggle with the decision to leave their island and move north. On the eve of their departure, memories of their Gullah history and its African roots come rising to the surface. Running time: 112 minutes, PG

Director: Julie Dash

Curator of Film

Sterling Warren is a writer, artist and curator based in Baltimore. A native of Washington D.C., Sterling graduated from Howard University’s School of Communications, receiving a BA in Film. He is currently a graduate student in the Museum Studies and Historical Preservation program at Morgan State University.  Sterling has collaborated with several art and history institutions including the James E. Lewis Museum of Art, the Maryland Historical Society, the Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum, the Walters Art Museum, and Galerie Myrtis (where he is currently the curator of film).
Photograph by Akea Brown

Founding Director, Galerie Myrtis

Myrtis Bedolla is founding director of Galerie Myrtis, a contemporary fine art gallery and art advisory located in Baltimore, Maryland. Voted, Best Gallery by the Baltimore Sun in 2017, Bedolla has also been featured in BMORE Art magazine, Issue 3, Living with Art: Myrtis Bedolla Builds a Home and Gallery in Old Goucher and in the Baltimore Style Magazine, October 2013 issue Women in the Arts which honored women at the helm of the Baltimore art scene.
read full bio

Photograph courtesy: photography.spartana.com