More love for Sibyl #3 on view @ Somarts!!

"Overall, 'The Black Woman Is God' comports with SOMArts’ curatorial practices. The main gallery is a loft-like space with a second, windowless chamber on the far end. The placement of three-dimensional or otherwise large-scale works on the floor is usually deliberate and highly selective, and the paintings and smaller pieces are hung on the walls with the minimum viable amount of breathing room.

It’s not cluttered, exactly. But there is enough to keep the eye engaged that a piece that exerts a tractor beam from across the room can seem even more powerful. The one I have in mind is Tania L. Balan-Gaubert’s Sibyl # 3 / Zili Dechennen (Zili Unleashed). The Haitian-American Balan-Gaubert’s Sibyls series “aims to refuse Western demonization of African religion and ritual,” and while the hooded figure with an electrifying gaze in this work cannot be divorced from that context, it could also be read as a mysterious saint from Eastern Orthodox Christianity, with red and gold sequins and a multicolored mosaic halo. This Sibyl clutches her belly, which may be pregnant, and holds her left arm up, its palm forward. A human heart sits at her throat, and a bandanna with an American flag print conceals her mouth. It’s archetypal, nearly Tarot-esque. You cannot look away."

+Peter Lawrence Kane, SF WEEKLY

The Black Woman is God: Divine Revolution @SOMArts Cultural Center

cover art by Bushmama Africa.

cover art by Bushmama Africa.

Sibyl #3 is on her way to Cali for her first west coast show, "The Black Woman is God: Divine Revolution." And I can't tell you how excited i am! the spirit behind this exhibition is essentially why I started the Sibyl Series - a reclamation, a healing, a subversion of eurocentric and patriarchal notions of the divine, a testimony and a protest that #theblackwomanisgod.

Co-Curated by Karen Seneferu and Melorra Green the show opens to the public July 20, 6pm-10pm at SOMArts Cultural Center.

Learn more about the exhibition and participating artists here.
 

5/5 presents....Blaxcess tv

131 Hubbell Project Space Activation presented 5/5 (Five5ths) | April 11 - 15

BLAXCESS TV is a performance meditating on ideas of visibility, invisibility, and access within institutional spaces. For the duration of a week, Five5ths will disrupt the idea of a formal gallery space.  

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BLACK ARTSTORY MONTH 2017 PRESENTS THE ALTAR: RITUALS IN HEALING IN THE AFRICAN DIASPORA

For the first time, Sibyl #2, Sibyl #3 and Sibyl #4 will be on view together! See them at T/PSY Brooklyn in February.

Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership presents its 5th Annual Black Artstory Month, The Altar: Rituals of Healing in the African Diaspora curated by Suhaly Bautista-Carolina. 

Featuring the work of over 30 Brooklyn-based visual artists, and 20 businesses, the FREE month-long event series and Artwalk explores the vital role and traditions around healing, restoration, and realignment in African Diasporic communities. 

On view: February 1-28 at T/PSY, 584 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn NY, 11205.

Events take place every Friday evening and include everything from dance, visual art and live exhibitions to film screenings and poetry readings along Myrtle Avenue. 

Learn more about Black Artstory and RSVP for events here.

harlem is...Dance @ MIST HARLEM

I completed an homage portrait of the late, distinguished independent performing artist Loretta Abbott for harlem is...DANCE a Community Works' exhibition in partnership with MIST Harlem, Harlem Arts Festival and the Harlem Arts Alliance.

Harlem is... A 6-part series presented by Community Works, celebrating the living history of Harlem and honoring remarkable community members, ages 50- 100, from all sectors of society. Part one honors 30 Harlemites; other components highlight the people, places, and history of Harlem Theatre, Gospel Tradition, Art, Music, and Dance.

harlem is...DANCE is co-curated by Barbara Horowitz and Elan Cadiz-Ferguson

 

On View: August 1- November 17, 2016 at MIST Harlem

Opening Reception: August 29, 2016, 6PM, Free + open to public with RSVP. 

RSVP the special artist reception to tour the exhibit, dialogue with the artists, enjoy a tribute by Abdel Salaam to dance icons Ruth Williams, Marie Brooks and Dele Husbands, dance performances, light refreshments and more.