BLACK LIVES MATTER Silence Equals Violence
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BLACK LIVES MATTER Silence Equals Violence Open to View Friday, December 18, 2020 Virtual Exhibit at pablocenter.org BLACK LIVES MATTER: Silence equals violence is an exhibit that features many mediums of art delving into issues of racism and intolerance with a focus on the black experience in America. Interested in purchasing a work of art? Interested in a work of art exhibited in one of our virtual galleries or exhibits? It may be available for purchase. To purchase a work of art, contact Rose, our Visual and Literary Arts Manager at [email protected]. All artwork pricing is set by the artists and is non-negotiable and non-refundable. All artwork sales are by commis- sion with Pablo Center at the Confluence. Your purchase supports our endeavors to present quality visual art pro- gramming that is free and open to the public. DR. SELIKA DUCKSWORTH-LAWTON, JUROR What does Freedom mean? What does equality mean? These pieces all discuss freedom, oppression, and equality in stark terms. They make the invisible visible. Art shows us the localized diversity and multiracial nature of the Black Lives Matter Movement. This show also shows us the strength of democracy, and how much we yearn for it. In this time of Civil Rights 2.0, local, leaderless movements for equality emerge, morph, and adapt. What was started by three queer women has become an international movement for equal treatment under law, equal rights, anti-dis- crimination, and bodily autonomy against the literal encroachment of corrupted governmental forces. It is literally fighting corruption in the streets. These works, which harken to the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, and the social consciousness art of the 90s, encompasses the yearning for equality. They show us what the wish for equality looks like. They show us how far we have come, and how far we have to go. Harkening to Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Synthia St. James, Basquait, Faith Ringgold, Augusta Savage, Lois Mailou Jones, Michael Ray Charles, etc and in multiple mediums, these pieces encompass the freedom movements of today. This is the face of freedom through the eyes of an Ameri- can psyche. About Dr. Selika Ducksworth-Lawton Dr. Selika Ducksworth-Lawton is currently a Professor of history at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Dr. Duck- sworth-Lawton is a specialist in Twentieth-Century African American Military, National Security, and Civil Rights History. She works in the intersection of race, national security, civil rights, and protest. Her book, Honorable Men: Armed Self Defense and the Deacons for Defense and Justice, is under contract with University Press of Mississippi and expected in press early next year. Honorable Men describes how African Americans veterans in the Deacons for Defense and Justice combined their military service knowledge with an African American vision of republicanism and citizenship to create a militia in Louisiana that successfully fought the Klan in the 1965-8 activists and protects white and African American Congress of Racial Equality activists. Dr. Ducksworth-Lawton is the co-author of Minority and Gender Differences in Officer Career Progression. She is working on a new book on the impact of culture and geography on the activists’ choices between non-violence and armed self-defense in several states in 1964-1967. She earned her PhD in 1994 from Ohio State University in 20th Century military and African American History. ROSE DOLAN-NEILL, CURATOR Visual & Literary Arts Manager Pablo Center at the Confluence This exhibit started with an idea, give voice to artists exploring the Black Lives Matter movement. It became a much more holistic approach to telling the story of where this movement began. The artwork on display spans many decades, even centuries of oppression: there are roots being exposed and ideas of race relations being discovered. I came to the realization that this exhibit was not just about the current Black Lives Matter movement, it was about racism and oppression, slavery and justice, healing and worrying for the future. Many thanks to our guest juror, Dr. Selika Ducksworth-Lawton, who spent endless hours pouring over submitted art- work from artists across the globe. Their ideas where transferable to imagery, and Dr. Ducksworth-Lawton’s passions are on view through her work with many national and local social justice groups. She works tirelessly organizing marches that rally to promote change. She speaks passionately about race relations, and reaches out to opposition groups to bridge dialogue and work together. We at Pablo Center are honored that she chose to jury this exhibit and thrilled by the work she selected. Through the viewing of art in our virtual exhibits on our website, we can all have a common experience. We can gain an understanding of our community and our humanity by scrolling through the images of artworks that have been created by our region’s top artistic minds. We can reach audiences from across the world and those communi- ties close to home that might not get to come into Pablo Center that often. Please be sure to read through the artistic statements and biographies of the artists on display, these words will add to the enjoyment and appreciation of the artwork and may give you further reason to purchase a work of art from Pablo Center. Who knows, it may even inspire you to take the next steps in your creative endeavor. ARTIST STATEMENTS AND BIOGRAPHIES Statements and biographies are written by the individual artists and are published with their permission. The views expressed are their own. All artwork pricing is set by the artist and is non-negotiable and non-refundable. All art- work sales are by commission with Pablo Center at the Confluence. Your purchase supports our endeavors to present quality visual arts programming that is free and open to the public. Thank you. NANCY ARIZA The Minneapolis Uprising has sparked a movement to defund the police, redirect funds to non-policing forms of public safety and community support. Over decades we’ve seen public schools, healthcare agencies, and housing programs as well as other services necessary to create a stable, healthy, and safe community receive budgetary cuts, while law enforcement continues to receive resources despite causing harm to the BIPOC community. Though our nation’s scarcity mindset would like us to believe that there are not enough resources for everyone, disrupting systems that misalign with community needs allows us to center access to essential human rights. Nancy Ariza is a Latinx printmaker, educator, and art administrator based in Minneapolis, MN. Her artwork ex- plores storytelling and memory through prints, book arts, and installation. She currently works as the Learning and Engagement Coordinator at the Minnesota Museum of American Art and has taught at Highpoint Center for Print- making, Minnesota Center for Books Arts, Walker Art Center, East Side Arts Council, and more. Ariza holds a BA in Art History and a BFA in Printmaking from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Human Rights Won’t Break the Bank Screenprint, 12x18 | $60 TIA BLASSINGAME Printed during Summer 2019 International Print Center New York artist residency, “Students” was risograph printed at Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. This artist’s book consists of a two-sided folded brochure with text by the author and nineteenth century verse by African American students of an integrated school. The front of “Students” discusses my research on the students, their birth status as free or enslaved. Images in red ink also appear of the boarding house where several students resided. The backside has their verse set against a background of the twen- ty-four star flag that would have been used during the school’s tenure from 1834-5. The book form of “Students” was inspired by the brochures available at the National Park Service and historical sites across the country. As such it is meant to be informative and guide you in connecting our history to our current situation. The color scheme- red, black, and blue- ties directly to the colors of the flag, but also colors that represent struggle, pain: black and blue, red, respectively. Sales proceeds used to purchase requested items on exonerated Innocence Project New Orleans clients’ Amazon wishlists. Tia Blassingame is an Assistant Professor of Book Arts at Scripps College and serves as the Director of Scripps Col- lege Press. A book artist and printmaker exploring the intersection of race, history, and perception, Blassingame often incorporates archival research and her own poetry in her artist’s book projects for nuanced discussions of racism in the United States. Her artist’s books are held in library and museum collections including Library of Congress, Stan- ford University, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, and State Library of Queensland. In 2019, she founded the Book/Print Artist/Scholar of Color Collective to bring Book History and Print Culture schol- ars into conversation and collaboration with artists of color. Students Risograph printmaking, 5x3.75 | Not for sale MARY DIMAN As a figurative painter I am aware of other figurative painters. I am also a volunteer docent at the Madison Mu- seum of Contemporary Art. The three people portrayed in my piece, Triptych, Three Figurative Painters, are artists who have had current work exhibited at the museum during the past two years. The highly personal subject matter of the paintings of each artist in my triptych depicts their experiences as Black Americans: neighborhood-home life and personal relationships. Many of the details of their lives are specific to the American Black experience. I was particularly interested in these painters’ choice of figurative representation and traditional techniques to document their lives visually and in the medium of painting.