Renaissance: Noir

Curated by Myrtis Bedolla

UTA Artist Space is pleased to present Renaissance: Noir, a virtual exhibition featuring works by 12 emerging Black artists, live on UTAArtistSpace.com from June 9 – July 3, 2020. Curated by Myrtis Bedolla, Baltimore-based owner of Galerie Myrtis, Renaissance: Noir investigates Blackness on the continuum of the historiographies of Black artists’ narratives that assert, individually and collectively, their state-of-mind and state-of-being Black. The timeliness of the exhibition is particularly significant, as its launch comes amidst a heightened awareness of racial injustice against the Black community, with protests occurring around the world. The show marks UTA Artist Space’s first full virtual exhibition.
The artists highlighted in Renaissance: Noir are Tawny Chatmon, Wesley Clark, Alfred Conteh, Larry Cook, Morel Doucet, Monica Ikegwu, Ronald Jackson, M. Scott Johnson, Delita Martin, Arvie Smith, Nelson Stevens, and Felandus Thames. Their work collectively captures the existence of “double consciousness,” as coined by W.E.B. DuBois, where one is constantly combating the “isms” —racism, colorism, sexism, capitalism, colonialism, escapism, and criticism through the act of artistic activism.

A portion of the proceeds from the exhibition will be donated to Artist Relief, a coalition of small to mid-sized national arts grant-makers that have come together to support artists amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Artist Relief is distributing grants and providing informational resources to artists across the US facing dire financial emergencies due to the crisis. More information about Artist Relief can be found here.
“We are honored to showcase works from Galerie Myrtis, one of the world’s leading Black-owned galleries, especially at such a critical moment in our nation’s history,” said Arthur Lewis, Creative Director of UTA Fine Arts and UTA Artist Space. “It is thanks to Myrtis Bedolla that I first saw the work of Amy Sherald and Jamia Richmond Edwards. She is a true visionary who continues to give broader visibility to the narrative of Blackness.”
Renaissance: Noir is more poignant than ever as we share these thought-provoking works which depict the social, political, and historical journey of the Black experience through intergenerational narratives,” said Bedolla. “I am excited to be partnering with UTA Artist Space on such a timely collection of paintings, prints, photographs, sculptures, and conceptual works, which span over 40 years of artistic production.” Click here to read the full curatorial statement.

 

 

Ronald Jackson

Monica Ikegwu

Arvie Smith

Tawny Chatmon

Morel Doucet

Wesley Clark

Delita Martin

Alfred Conteh

M. Scott Johnson

Felandus Thames. Photo courtesy of Renée Cox.

Nelson Stevens circa 1975

Larry Cook

Black body politics is the impulse that fuels the work of Tawny Chatmon, Alfred Conteh, Morel Doucet, Monica Ikegwu, and Delita Martin.

In Chatmon’s photographs, hand-embellished portraits of Black children examine the “absence” of the black body in Western art and celebrates Black childhood.

Conteh draws inspiration from his southern roots when creating paintings and illustrations that explore the “economic, educational, and psychological wars being fought” by his community, against a society that politicizes and criminalizes their very existence.

Doucet’s printmaking is driven by his desire to expose environmental racism and marginalization of the black body.

Ikegwu’s paintings of Black youth celebrate the nuances of black culture expressed through fashion that acts as the individual’s signifier.

In Delita Martin’s fantastical prints, inspired by African diasporic spiritual and religious practices, the artist celebrates and reclaims a Black woman’s power and place in the natural and supernatural worlds.

Tawny Chatmon

Seeds Sown, 2020

24k gold leaf, acrylic, watercolor, and gouache on archival pigment print

40 x 24 inches (5 cm border)

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Tawny Chatmon

The Revelation / Glory, 2018-2020

24k gold leaf, acrylic, watercolor, ink, and gouache on archival pigment print

45 x 30 inches (5 cm border)

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Tawny Chatmon

The Boy That Changed My Life, Honored: The Redemption, 2019

24k gold leaf and acrylic paint on archival pigment print

51 x 41 inches

Tawny Chatmon

Girl Enlightened: The Redemption Series, 2019

24k gold leaf and acrylic paint on archival pigment print

44 x 20 inches (5 cm border)

 

Tawny Chatmon

She is Gold: The Redemption Series, 2019

24k gold leaf and acrylic paint on archival pigment print

28 x 24 inches (5 cm border)

Alfred Conteh

Darius

Acrylic and charcoal on paper

38 x 50 inches

Alfred Conteh

Money Mike

Acrylic and charcoal on paper

38 x 50 inches

Alfred Conteh

Dee, 2020

Acrylic and urethane plastic on canvas

96 x 35 3/4 x 3 inches

Alfred Conteh

Aston and Ethan, 2020

Acrylic and urethane plastic on canvas

84 x 47.5 x 3 inches

Alfred Conteh

Shan, 2019

Acrylic on canvas

84 x 48 inches

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Morel Doucet

Red Summer (How the sky stood still when the flames arrive), 2019

Assorted charcoal densities, aerosol red  and yellow, flora and fauna

30h x 22 1/2w inches

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Morel Doucet

Regal Black Madonna (God listens to your heartbeat on a violin), 2019

Assorted Charcoal densities, tree paper, aerosol magenta and yellow, flora and fauna

30h x 22 1/2w inches

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Morel Doucet

When they Stay in the Sun their Shadows Grow with Regrets, 2019

Silkscreen on paper with coconut husk

30 x 22 1/2 inches

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Morel Doucet

Brown Sugar (Being black is one of the most extreme sports in America), 2019

Assorted charcoal densities, mylar, aerosol navy, flora and fauna

22 1/2 x 30 inches

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Morel Doucet

Cane Sugar (I’m learning to love the parts of myself that no one claps for), 2019

Assorted charcoal densities, mylar, aerosol orange and green flora and fauna

22 1/2 x 30 inches

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Monica Ikegwu

Sister’s Keeper, 2020

Oil on canvas

30 x 48 inches

Monica Ikegwu

Jacob, 2020

Oil on canvas

36 x 36 inches

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Delita Martin

The Moon and the Little Bird, 2018

Acrylic, charcoal, gelatin printing, collagraph printing, relief printing, decorative papers,

hand-stitching, liquid gold leaf

79 x 102 inches

Delita Martin

I See God in Us/Claiming What Has Risen, 2020

Relief printing, charcoal, fabric, decorative papers, hand stitching, acrylic

72 x 51 1/2 inches

Delita Martin

I See God in Us/Soul Mates, 2020

Acrylic, Charcoal, Decorative Papers, Hand stitching

72 x 51 1/2 inches

Delita Martin

I See God in Us/Trinity, 2020

Acrylic, charcoal, decorative papers, hand stitching, liquid gold leaf, relief printing

72 x 102 inches

Delita Martin

I See God in Us/Sunrise, 2020

Acrylic, charcoal, decorative papers, hand stitching, liquid gold leaf

72 x 51 1/2 inches

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The physiognomy of the Black male and its perceived threat to white society are concerns M. Scott Johnson, Felandus Thames, and Arvie Smith explore conceptually and figuratively in their work.

Johnson’s sculptures carved from marble are birth in the subconscious state of atavistic memory and derived from Shona and Makonde sculpting techniques.

Thames’ conceptual works address stereotypical archetypes associated with Black male masculinity.

Smith’s satirical paintings, unabashedly and unapologetically challenge racist tropes associated with the historic portrayals of Black men.

M. Scott Johnson

Bust of Benjamin Banneker: Father of Afrofuturism, 2004

Blanco Macael marble

26 x 12 x 6 inches

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M. Scott Johnson

Head of a Negro Stargazer, 2019

Boticcino marble

25 x 12 x 10 inches

M. Scott Johnson

Neo Negro Cartouche, 2006

Bianco Carrara marble, teak and dry pigment (base)

35 x 9 x 6 inches

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M. Scott Johnson

Headstone of Queen Elizabeth Catlett, 2012

Belgian Black marble

30 x 22 x 10 inches

M. Scott Johnson

High John the Conqueror, 2009

Bardiglio Nuvolato marble

54 x 54 x 20 inches

Felandus Thames

Black and Blue, 2016

Hairbrushes

Dimensions variable

 

Felandus Thames

Portrait of the First Post-Black, 2019

Hair beads on coated wire

39 x 24 x x 1 inches

Felandus Thames

African King of Dubious Origins, 2018-2019

Hair beads on coated wire and aluminum rod

39 x 24 x 1 inches

Felandus Thames

Reframe (Mike Tyson), 2020

Hair beads on coated wire and aluminum rod

80 x 48 x 1 inches

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Felandus Thames

Open Mike, 2019

Hair beads on coated wire and aluminum rod

39 x 24 x 1 inches

Arvie Smith

2Up and 2Back, 2019

Oil on Canvas

72 x 60 inches

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Arvie Smith

Best Man, 2016

Oil on Canvas

72 x 60 inches

Arvie Smith

Circus Circus on Fifth Ave., 2019

Oil on Canvas

72 x 120 inches

Arvie Smith

Eclipse, 2019

Oil on Canvas

72 x 60 inches

Arvie Smith

Truth Tellers, 2019

Oil on Canvas

72 x 60 inches

The social and political construct of society drives the work of Wesley Clark and Larry Cook.

Clark deploys conceptual works in an investigation of what America owes African Americans, and what they owe themselves.

For Cook, photographs convey the complexities of Blackness through imagined idealistic urban settings.

Wesley Clark

Inheritance, 2019

Spray paint, urethane paint, stain, wood

13 x 58 x 11 inches each

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Wesley Clark

I See You Here and Forever, 2017

Epoxy resin, eps foam, oil paint

32 x 82 x 24 inches

Wesley Clark

Open Season, 2004-present

Acrylic on plywood

Dimensions: 72 x 25.5 x 3.25 inches (as shown)

Dimensions per target: 4 5/8 x 4 3/8 inches

 

 

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Wesley Clark

Restoring Our Majesty, 2019

Urethane paint, epoxy putty, eps foam

Female: 69-1/2 x 19 inches, Base: 13-1/2 x 28-1/2 inches

Male: 69-1/2 x 24 inches, Base: 13 x 31 inches

Wesley Clark

The Return of the Ancients, 2017

Oil on plywood

120 x 84 x 6 inches

 

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Wesley Clark

Table of Contents, 2017

Oil paint on wood

47 x 89 x 2 inches

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Larry Cook

Urban Landscapes #1, 2018

Digital Print

16 x 20 inches

Larry Cook

Urban Landscape #2, 2018

Digital Print

16 x 20 inches

Larry Cook

Urban Landscapes #3, 2018

Digital Print

16 x 20 inches

Larry Cook

Urban Landscape #4, 2018

Digital Print

16 x 20 inches

In deploying the power of Black subjectivity as the unifying force, imagery graphically documents the resolute spirit of African Americans as in the work of Ronald Jackson, whose paintings offer a commentary on the lives of resilient and dignified Southerners before the Great Migration. Paintings and prints by Nelson Stevens emerge from activism and a commitment to rail against racism through a Black aesthetic that captures the ethos of the Black community.

Ronald Jackson

A Dwelling down Roads Unpaved, 2020

Oil on canvas

72 x 84 inches

Nelson Stevens

And His Name Is…, 1995

Colored pencil and acrylic on black Arches Rives paper

43 ½ x 53 ¾ inches

 

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Nelson Stevens

Bonnie: Hoodoo Bone Boogie Series, 1989

Acrylic on Canvas

68 x 43 inches

 

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Nelson Stevens

Imani Impulse, 1980

Silkscreen

38 x 26 inches

Edition: Artist Proof

 

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Nelson Stevens

Booker T. in Tuskegee, 1979

Acrylic on Board

40 x 30 inches

 

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Nelson Stevens

Spirit Sisiter, 2013

Silkscreen

18 x 18 inches

Edition Size: 75

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