Radical reinvention
- frida@artyardbklyn.org
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
We’re just one week away from the AYB Movers & Shakers exhibition opening and benefit party!
While we’re working hard to make sure the event is a success, we’re keeping the energy of Art Yard Brooklyn alive with all our usual exciting activities. In Advanced Studio, we explored the Harlem Renaissance and the work of Wifredo Lam through the lens of migration. Plus, there are a few superb exhibitions around town that we can’t wait to share with you.
For a triple win, AYB Artist Assata Benoit was back for the next installment of her Advanced Studio sessions on zoom exploring our theme of migration.
Assata shares her thoughts on the session: “This lesson was super fun for me! The Harlem Renaissance was such a pivotal time in American history that allowed for the reinvention of Black Americans. These people were full of life and ideas, and a new, lively, prohibition-era Harlem put them under a magnifying glass.
During my presentation, I wanted my class to understand the history behind the Renaissance—what came before it, not just what came of it. By leaving the Jim Crow–ruled South during the Great Migration, Black Americans were not only able to make three times more money, but live and create freely (under prohibition, of course).
The Renaissance was a vibrant, colorful, loud time that, surprisingly, shows directly through the work made this week. There is movement; the characters and colors jump out at you and tell the story of people long gone but still relevant—reborn!”
Karla adds: “Thanks, Assata!!! Wonderful lessons!!! Loved the grouping of figures in your work!!
Figures appeared in everyone's work tonight!!! Meridith commented that this might've been a first! I think it really speaks to the fact that it’s about the people—the people who endured the experience of seeking a better life and having a place to establish community, celebrate identity and joy!
Flo really grabbed our attention with the red background and the thoughtful placement of symbolic drawings.
Travis and Leah brought movement and vibrant color to their depictions of the Harlem spirit!
Nayarit’s collage of photos didn’t seem like a collage at all, but a seamless symbolic visual narrative! A celebration of Black Joy for all ages!
Ed's drawing included a tribute to the musicians who defined the artistic impact and talent of Black musicians of the era! I also loved the focus on the couple in the foreground—it spoke to me about the freedom to celebrate with community in a public space.
Richie's spectacular drawing depicts Cab Calloway.
TJ created such an uplifting composition working atop her own photograph! The confetti lines were amazing, along with the expression on the face of the musician!
Meridith and Adji both depicted personal joyful moments of relaxing and reading as powerful times of renewal.
I (Karla) am still thinking about Adji's drawing—such a beautiful use of line and contrast!”
Tuesday in Advanced Studio in person at 180 Franklin Avenue we investigated the work of Wifredo Lam with AYB Artist Ajani Russell. Ajani shared a link to their well researched power point so that participating artists could follow along as the presentation unfolded.
Ajani explains the process and the work created: "This week I took AYB participants through the works of Afro Cuban artist Wilfredo Lam through the lens of his world travels, friendships and various adventures. We looked at how his style transformed over the course of his life with focus to how Lams environment and circumstances informed his practice, materials and aesthetic choices.
Then participating artists were asked to create watercolor paintings using symbolism, line quality and a limited color palette to express a period in their life where their location defined their experience or acted as a main character to their narrative. It was specified that the limited color palettes should be informed by the tone of the memory they wished to portray.
Some pieces were more abstract, focusing on the mood they had during that experience, while others were more specific to the landscape and the physical space that they were in.
Jules depicted herself, jumping from a waterfall- her body is rendered in yellow because of how light that moment made her feel. The colors she used are vibrant, the brushstrokes are energetic, creating an overall sense of movement throughout the piece.
Juliet created a self portrait in pink, saying that this is how she felt in the present: happy, content. The soft colors and line quality invoking a sense of serenity.
Robert’s work was compared to Marie Roberts banner paintings for the use of color, while the composition, which created the idea of curtains further reminding us of Marie’s work.
Rachel chose to depict her self and her mother watching television together on the couch in a very abstract way that was reminiscent of Kandinsky and Julie Maretu, in the circles and squares orbiting around a focal point.
Abriel (bob)’s piece used very watery, wiggly lines that reminded us of dancing. The long fingers felt similar to some of Jules work that we’ve seen before. The high contrast of your color palette created a more intense feel to the painting.
Abriel (bob) Gardner, Location Defining Experience
Alex’s train car was an almost monochromatic vision- the variations of grey tones carved out really beautiful details in the image. The somber energy was emphasized by the composition, the viewer peering through a window which creates further separation of the subject from the viewer.
All of the work is evocative and there is a strong sense of the drawn line...precisely what is so compelling in the work of Wifredo Lam!
Other Art News from afar
I (Meridith) am thrilled to share that my exhibition Peer is now on view at The Small House Gallery in London!
Lisa Peet, Executive Editor, Library Journal, Freelance critic and essayist, writes: "Meridith’s Peer exhibition at the Small House Gallery in London has a wonderfully dual nature, distilling a sense of place—several places, in fact—down to their most comprehensible elements. The studio and gallery spaces in miniature are graspable both in the sense of settings the viewer can immediately understand, maybe even recognize, and literally what can be grasped—held—in one hand. The tiny spaces are familiar and, by virtue of their scale, exotic at the same time, a deeply pleasurable pairing of concepts.”
Peer is a site-specific installation presented in two side-by-side vintage dollhouses. On view throughout both galleries are scaled versions of my watercolor paintings—from the Inside Outside Windowphilia and Magical Things series—depicting evocative views of Brooklyn, Venice, London, and Rome. The attic of one house contains a miniature replica of Meridith's Brooklyn studio, complete with works in progress, a clunky radiator, and cats. In the second house, viewers find Lilliputian brochures, invitations, and a tiny model of the gallery itself.
Use arrows to scroll through installation images. Photos by Eldi Dundee.
NYC Exhibitions well worth your time
Ajani and I (Meridith) started our day of inspiring art looking at MoMA with Wifredo Lam: When I Don’t Sleep, I Dream. We were captivated by the sweeping survey of Lam’s work, especially his drawings and ceramics, which are less familiar to most audiences. Lam’s art expands the horizons of modernism while centering Black diasporic culture. His experiences of exile and return to the Caribbean, combined with his Afro-Chinese heritage, fueled a radical reinvention of painting as an “act of decolonization.” The retrospective, the first of its kind in the U.S., invites viewers to witness Lam’s transformative figures and landscapes, his poetic collaborations, and the enduring power of his vision.
Wifredo Lam drawings from exhibition at MoMA. Photos by Meridith McNeal
From there, we embarked on our downtown art trek to the recently reopened Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art to see David Wojnarowicz: Arthur Rimbaud in New York. We arrived just as a live reading of Wojnarowicz’s monologues from Wojnarowicz’s Sounds in the Distance: 35 Monologues from the Road was taking place—perfect timing. The exhibition presents his photo-performances from 1978–79, capturing the grit and transformation of New York City through the eyes of a young artist transitioning from writing to visual art. It’s both a deeply personal document and a vivid portrait of a city on the brink.
David Wojnarowicz: Arthur Rimbaud in New York on view at Leslie-Lohman
Before leaving Leslie-Lohman, we stopped in to see Athi-Patra Ruga: Lord, I gotta keep on (movin’). Wow—what a show. In particular, we loved the woven tapestries: lush, colorful, and utterly engaging. Ruga’s multidisciplinary practice blends myth, history, and performance to create the imagined realm of Azania, exploring hybridity, ritual, and queer Black femme culture. The works offer a bold, imaginative, and liberatory vision that we loved.
Ajani and work by Athi-Patra Ruga. Photos Meridith McNeal
Evelyn writes: "On the recommendation of a friend, I sought out a Sasha Gordon painting -- My Friends Will Be Me on the fifth floor of the Brooklyn Museum.
The subtlety of the color was extraordinary, and the representational technique was exacting. I appreciated the fresh curatorial approach in the American Art collection: a series of Frameworks that cut across traditional boundaries of chronology and medium to bring works together on such themes as flowers, black and white, and the nude.
AYB Teaching Artist Aisha Tandiwe Bell invites us to the opening of Reconstruction in Relief tonight Friday November 14m 6-8pm at Tiger Strikes Asteroid (1329 Willoughby Ave. #2A, Brooklyn.
🪩💜🏠
