Art Fairs

Art Fairs

Art Fairs

Exhibitions

The Beautiful and the Damned


The Beautiful and the Damned
September 17 – November 5, 2022

ARTISTS
Lavett Ballard | Monica Ikegwu | Megan Lewis | view artwork | artist Talk

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 17 – 2:00 ‐ 6:00 pm
Virtual Artist Talk: Wednesday, September 28 – 7:00 – 8:00 pm EDT.

The Beautiful and the Damned asserts beauty as imagined through the lens of three
African American women artists who challenge the historic limiting and unattainable
standards of what is desirable.

Video

Featured Videos

Featured Videos

«
Prev
1
/
1
Next
»
loading
play
Galerie Myrtis: The Beautiful and the Damned - Artist Talk
play
Ronald Jackson Talk - Galerie Myrtis
play
Galerie Myrtis x Christie's NY
play
The Speculative Future of Blackness - Artists' Talk
play
Monica Ikegwu featured on CNN segment 'Art is Life'
«
Prev
1
/
1
Next
»
loading
  • The Beautiful and the Damned asserts beauty as imagined through the lens of three African American women artists who challenge the historic limiting and unattainable standards of what is desirable. Featuring Lavett Ballard, Monica Ikegwu, and Megan Lewis.
  • Ronald Jackson will discuss the inspiration for his fictitious character Aunt Johnnie Mae King, and her various adventures. For the collector’s segment, individuals will share why they’ve acquired Jackson’s artwork and pose questions to the artist about his practice. Moderated by Myrtis Bedolla.
  • Galerie Myrtis & Christie’s Auction House: An historic collaboration between the gallery and Christie’s entitled “Time, Space, Existence: Afro-Futurist Visions.” During its Post-War to Present auction on September 29th, Christie’s will offer the works of Delita Martin (Lot 351), Morel Doucet (Lot 352), Tawny Chatmon (Lot 353), Larry Cook (Lot 354), Monica Ikegwu (Lot 355), and M. Scott Johnson (Lot 356).
  • The Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined: Myrtis Bedolla moderates a discussion with artists Tawny Chatmon, M. Scott Johnson, Delita Martin, and Arvie Smith, whose works offer discourse on African Americans’ socio-political concerns and pays tribute to the resiliency, creativity, and spirituality that have historically sustained Black people.
Exhibitions

Ronald Jackson – Solo Exhibition

Ronald Jackson: Solo Exhibition
June 25th – August 31, 2022

Opening Reception
Saturday, June 25, 2-6 pm

view artwork | artist talk | statement | bio | resume | press

Galerie Myrtis is pleased to announce Ronald Jackson’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. In this show, Jackson, a figurative painter, draws from his vivid and boundless imagination to construct a fantastical world habited by Johnnie Mae King, aka Aunt Johnnie. Known for creating work focused on the Great Migration, the artist leads us down a different path in his new body of work. Here, the narrative focuses on a single character and the notion of a Black woman’s uninhibited existence. For Johnnie, it is a life free of social constraints such as racial discrimination and gender politics.

Jackson depicts Aunt Johnnie in playful figurations and portrayals of acts of defiance. Lush vegetation binds Johnnie’s various exploits offering dramatic surroundings to her stylized couture. Her identity is concealed by the artist’s traditional masking technique or hidden behind whimsical eyeglasses that serve as devices to draw viewers into Aunt Johnnie’s imaginary world, one of fantasy, freedom, and reckless abandonment.

“Johnnie’s imagination allows her to dream uninhibited, free to do what she wants to do and be whatever she wants to be. Much like a time traveler, her mind allows her to explore the possibilities of navigating other places, times, and dimensions.” Ronald Jackson

Ronald Jackson
Untitled, 2022
Oil on canvas
60 x 72 ″

Exhibitions

The Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined – PRESS

PRESS

Personal Structures, July 2022
The Beauty and Confidence of Blackness

The Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined. With this installation, Galerie Myrtis seeks to provide insight into the socio-political concerns of the African-American community and celebrates black culture by paying tribute to the reliance, creativity, ingenuity, and spirituality that has historically sustained Black people, bringing it into a completely new set of Venetian landscapes. full article

Glasstire, June 2022
10 Works from the Venice Biennale that I Wish the Fort Worth Modern Would Acquire by Colette Copeland

[Tawny] Chatmon’s gold-leafed photographic portraits celebrate the beauty of black childhood. Inspired by 15th century Italian artists and artisans, as well as gold-inscribed historical relics, the artist juxtaposes the portraits onto historical landscape paintings as an act of affirmation. full article

New York Public Library, 2022
Tribute to an Afrofuturist Deity: Schomburg Center Artist & Educator M. Scott Johnson Exhibits at 59th Venice Biennale

…The stone chips were flying as M. Scott Johnson, a sculptor and visual arts instructor at the Center’s Junior Scholars Program, began work on the first sculpture of his triptych, The Metamorphosis of High John the Conqueror: Tribute to an Afrofuturist Deity. full article

Artlyst, April 2022
Eight Of The Best Collateral Events – 59th Venice Biennale by Lee Sharrock

Myrtis Bedolla, founding director of Galerie Myrtis in Baltimore MD, has curated a breathtaking group exhibition at the European Cultural Centre in Palazzo Bembo. Titled ‘The Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined’, the exhibition groups together 8 artists who are reclaiming the inequality of white art history from the point of view of a black narrative… full article

Pigmment Magazine, 2022
Venice says “BENVENUTO to Galerie Myrtis in 2022

[Galerie Myrtis] is the first Black-owned gallery to be invited to participate in the Biennale-affiliated “Personal Structures: Time Space and existence.” The gallery was invited to the prestigious show by the European Cultural Centre-Italy. full article

Black art in America, April 2022
Galerie Myrtis: Exhibiting Black Art at The Venice Biennale by Shantay Robinson

By invitation of the European Cultural Centre-Italy, Galerie Myrtis is the first black-owned gallery to be invited to participate in the Biennale-affiliated exhibition Personal Structures: Time, Space, and Existence. This historic moment is predated by the 2020 racial reckoning the world experienced. full article

Culture Type, August, 2021
Latest News in Black Art: Guggenheim Hires Diversity Chief, Galerie Myrtis Presenting Exhibition at Venice Biennale, Kehinde Wiley Redesigns MTV Moonperson & More by Victoria L. Valentine

Galerie Myrtis Fine Art & Advisory of Baltimore, Md., was invited to participate in Personal Structures, an affiliate exhibition at the 2022 Venice Biennale. The Black-owned gallery founded by Myrtis Bedolla will present “The Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined,” featuring eight artists—Tawny Chatmon, Larry Cook, Morel Doucet, Monica Ikegwu, M. Scott Johnson, Delita Martin, Arvie Smith, and Felandus Thames. full article

Artist Talk

The Speculative Future of Blackness – Artist Talk –…

Artist Talk: The Speculative Future of Blackness
Sunday, April 24, 2022

YouTube player

Palazzo Michiel
Strada Nova, 4391
30121 Campo Santi Apostoli
Venezia VE, Italy

Myrtis Bedolla, Curator of The Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined exhibition, moderates a discussion with artists Tawny Chatmon, M. Scott Johnson, Delita Martin, and Arvie Smith, whose works offer discourse into African Americans’ socio-political concerns and pays tribute to the resiliency, creativity, and spirituality that have historically sustained Black people.

Blackness and the possibilities of its future are the impulses that drive the imaginations of the artists who draw inspiration from Afrofuturism, Black existentialism, spirituality, and futurist thought to construct a Black universe of tomorrow.

Press

Megan Lewis – PRESS

PRESS

Daily Orange, April 18, 2024
Megan Lewis’ ‘Chromatic Expressions’ captures Black introspection through paintings

Syracuse community members gathered for an intimate event in the main hall of the Community Folk Art Center (CFAC) to observe “Chromatic Expressions,” a 23-piece gallery by multidisciplinary illustrator Megan Lewis. The gallery celebrates the many facets and emotions of Black people. full article

ARTCENTRON, April 12, 2024
Megan Lewis: Portraying Black Masculinity and Life Through Art

…One artist who has particularly captured the attention of both art lovers and collectors is Megan Lewis. Her paintings are prominently on display at the Galerie Myrtis Booth 405. Despite this being the gallery’s inaugural participation in the event, the collection of works on display has made it a standout attraction. full article

CNN, March 13, 2024
Monica Ikegwu on ‘Art is Life’ segment

During the interview conducted by correspondent Victor Blackwell, Ikegwu discussed the sense of empowerment her subjects gain through modeling and the importance of visibility. Further, the interview uplifted Monica’s forthcoming solo exhibition with Galerie Myrtis, “Extensions,” opening in the Fall. Band of Vices coordinated the CNN segment. watch segment

WMAR, March 2022
Painting the Town with Megan Lewis by Kelly Swoope

You’ve probably seen Lewis’ work and didn’t realize it, while her studio on West Baltimore Street is filled with bright colorful paintings…it’s the city of Baltimore that’s her biggest canvas.. full article

Print Magazine, October, 2021
Megan Lewis Is A Masterful Multidisciplinary Artist With Her Sights Set On Growth by Charlotte Beach

Megan’s first-ever solo exhibition, “Language of the Soul,” was recently launched at the Eubie Blake Cultural Center in partnership with Galerie Myrtis, where her vibrant, pattern-filled paintings will be on display through November 20th. She imbues her subjects with bold colors and power-clashing patterns, with some of the pieces even embellished with textiles. full article

Press

M Scott Johnson – PRESS

PRESS

New York Public Library, 2022
Tribute to an Afrofuturist Deity: Schomburg Center Artist & Educator M. Scott Johnson Exhibits at 59th Venice Biennale

…The stone chips were flying as M. Scott Johnson, a sculptor and visual arts instructor at the Center’s Junior Scholars Program, began work on the first sculpture of his triptych, The Metamorphosis of High John the Conqueror: Tribute to an Afrofuturist Deity. full article

Culture Type, August, 2021
Latest News in Black Art: Guggenheim Hires Diversity Chief, Galerie Myrtis Presenting Exhibition at Venice Biennale, Kehinde Wiley Redesigns MTV Moonperson & More by Victoria L. Valentine

Galerie Myrtis Fine Art & Advisory of Baltimore, Md., was invited to participate in Personal Structures, an affiliate exhibition at the 2022 Venice Biennale. The Black-owned gallery founded by Myrtis Bedolla will present “The Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined” featuring eight artists—Tawny Chatmon, Larry Cook, Morel Doucet, Monica Ikegwu, M. Scott Johnson, Delita Martin, Arvie Smith, and Felandus Thames. full article

press-scott-johnson-atlanta-black-star
Atlanta Blackstar, 2015
The Rhythm of Structure: Detroit Techno and Sculpting Converge by Shelby Jefferson

“Techno taught me how to organize abstraction in my mind; the repetition opens up corridors of your conscious thought,” Johnson explains. “Working with stone in Africa, you see how rhythm manifests itself physically…” full article

press-michigan-chronicle-scott-johnson
Michigan Chronicle, 2015
Art exhibit by Inkster’s own M. Scott Johnson by Scott Talley

…the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History presents Shadow Matter: The Rhythm of Structure / Afro Futurism to Afro Surrealism. “Shadow Matter” features the work of renowned sculptor M. Scott Johnson… full article

Press

Ronald Jackson – PRESS

PRESS

Artnet News, February 24, 2020
Arkansas’s Crystal Bridges Museum Just Opened a Sprawling Show About… (featuring Ronald Jackson) by Ben Davis

…Curated by Lauren Haynes—a transplant from the Studio Museum in Harlem—with Alejo Benedetti and Allison Glenn, the result is a 61-artist survey, shared between the cheese-factory chic of the Momentary’s new galleries and the bucolic luxury of Crystal Bridges. full article

BMORE Art, July 2018
BLACK PORTRAITURE: FABRIC, FACE, AND FORM by Angela N. Carroll

The contemporary art world is experiencing a renaissance in Black portraiture. A new generation of master realist painters like Kehinde Wiley, T. Eliott Mansa, Jas Knight and Ronald Jackson build upon a foundation laid by earlier figurative artists like Charles White, Augusta Savage, John Biggers, and Elizabeth Catlett. full article

press-city-pressCity Paper, December 14, 2016
ESCAPE TO MIAMI: Baltimore goes to Art Basel

Galerie Myrtis – SPECTRUM ART FAIR: On the mainland, in Wynwood, Galerie Myrtis efficiently uses nearly every inch of its space, located in a breezy, visible spot near the back at Spectrum, showing work by Delita Martin, Morel Doucet, Anna U. Davis, Michael Gross, Ronald Jackson, and Jamea Richmond-Edwards. This is Myrtis’ first time at this fair – full article

press-international-reviewInternational Review of African American Art, 2015
Stayin Alive

…In this show S. Ross Browne, Nina Buxenbaum, Larry Judah Cook, Ronald Jackson, T. Elliott Mansa, Delita Martin and Arvie Smith draw from the familiar and the imagined to reinscribe the notion of blackness within the context of self. full article

Press

Monica Ikegwu – PRESS

PRESS

CNN, March 13, 2024
Monica Ikegwu on ‘Art is Life’ segment

During the interview conducted by correspondent Victor Blackwell, Ikegwu discussed the sense of empowerment her subjects gain through modeling and the importance of visibility. Further, the interview uplifted Monica’s forthcoming solo exhibition with Galerie Myrtis, “Extensions,” opening in the Fall. Band of Vices coordinated the CNN segment. watch segment

Christies, September, 2022
Post-War to Present… and Collaboration with Galerie Myrtis: Time, Space, Existence: Afro-futurist Visions

Among the highlights are a groundbreaking group of six artworks in collaboration with Myrtis Bedolla, Time, Space, Existence: Afro-Futurist Visions from Galerie Myrtis. Each of the six artists—Delita Martin, Larry Cook, M. Scott Johnson, Monica Ikegwu, Morel Doucet, and Tawny Chatmon full article

Culture Type, August, 2021
Latest News in Black Art: Guggenheim Hires Diversity Chief, Galerie Myrtis Presenting Exhibition at Venice Biennale, Kehinde Wiley Redesigns MTV Moonperson & More by Victoria L. Valentine

Galerie Myrtis Fine Art & Advisory of Baltimore, Md., was invited to participate in Personal Structures, an affiliate exhibition at the 2022 Venice Biennale. The Black-owned gallery founded by Myrtis Bedolla will present “The Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined” featuring eight artists—Tawny Chatmon, Larry Cook, Morel Doucet, Monica Ikegwu, M. Scott Johnson, Delita Martin, Arvie Smith, and Felandus Thames. full article