The Unusual Door
- frida@artyardbklyn.org
- 1 day ago
- 11 min read
In our final Advanced Studio on zoom for our Year of Literacy AYB Artist Fatima Traore presented “Change a Chapter”.
Fatima writes: In honor of the final Zoom session for Year of Literature, I led a closing lesson titled “Change a Chapter.” Artists were invited to reflect on a book, movement, or historical moment they would rewrite—whether by adding, erasing, or reimagining it entirely.
To ground the lesson in real-world inspiration, I spotlighted works by Bisa Butler, Jayce Hall, and James Cook—artists known for their use of storytelling, symbolism, and text (shown below in that order). Their works served as powerful examples of how art can challenge historical narratives and elevate overlooked voices.
• Ed Rath reworked the legacy of Marie Antoinette, reframing the infamous phrase “Let them eat cake” to challenge historical narratives and portray her in a more nuanced light.
Ed explains further: “In my drawing I tried to re-imagine how history might have changed had the French Queen, Marie Antoinette, provided her starving subjects nourishing food, instead of uttering those infamous words, "Let Them Eat Cake."
Just think - instead of causing the French Revolution and being cast into the dust-bin of history, she could have been remembered as a kind and loving queen who gained the admiration of her subjects through selfless generosity.
On the other hand, if the French Revolution hadn't happened, the whole of art history would have gone differently. Artists like Courbet, Delacroix, and David might not have produced their great political works, which set the stage for Impressionism, Post Impressionism, and Early Modernism.
Moral of the story: Be careful what you wish for.”
• Meridith used Photoshop to create a layered digital collage about the talented yet under-recognized artist Lee Krasner, her husband painter Jackson Pollock, his demise and alcoholism referenced in bottles from the year of his fatal car crash. She cleverly erased and altered text within the image, transforming "Olives" into "Lives" into "Lies," prompting questions about truth and alcoholism and the notion of artistic greatness, legacy and comparison.
• Simone explored her heritage by weaving together elements from her diverse background. She used symbolic imagery—birds, seven hills, and more—to represent personal and cultural convergence.
• Travis, also working with bird symbolism, illustrated a single bird hovering over a nest of torn pages and discarded forms of literature. His bold, expressive linework gave the piece emotional intensity.
• Leah challenged the colonial myth of Columbus “discovering” America by using text and fine linework to rewrite that history. Her limited palette and delicate cursive style gave the work a timeless, aged feel.
• Adji, inspired by The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, selected a specific passage to reinterpret. She wrapped Morrison’s words around illustrated leaves, blending image and text into a deeply poetic piece.
• Fatima, drawing inspiration from the featured artists, created a portrait of Kamala Harris winning the 2024 election. She used campaign slogans, quotes from U.S. history, and layered typography to form the image, blending politics and portraiture.
• Cheyenne reimagined Van Gogh’s Starry Night using her own favorite color palette, showing how personal interpretation can transform even the most iconic works.
Fatima sums up: "To close the session, I shared how meaningful it was to guide artists through this final chapter—using creativity to reflect, challenge, and reimagine the stories we’re told. Leaving the group with the reminder that making space for young voices through art is where the real change begins.”
For our final Year of Literacy session of Advanced Studio in person I (Meridith) led a session titled The Unusual Door, a lesson inspired by the deep artistic friendship between writer James Baldwin and painter Beauford Delaney.
Together, we explored how Delaney influenced Baldwin’s way of seeing, helping him think visually and push the boundaries of his own work. Our discussion drew from poignant texts, including Speculative Light: The Arts of Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin (see review in What We Are Reading section below):
“It is telling (remarkable, really) that the individual who most decidedly encouraged Baldwin as an artist, not a writer but a painter, a man obsessed with processes of seeing and visual representation, processes that he helped Baldwin to understand and to capture in his own work.”
— Speculative Light, p. 161
“Great community is an unrestricted, diverse array of associated groups bound in solidarity through mutually recognized humanity and dignity.”
— Speculative Light, p. 136
As I shared artworks by Delaney from Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin: Through the Unusual Door, The Knoxville Museum of Art, 2020, as well as excerpts from Little Man, Little Man (illustrated by Yoran Cazac), and we discussed how friendships between artists—across disciplines and experiences—can spark creative growth and new perspectives.
On the table covered in one of my beautiful fabrics I placed sketchbooks and pens as an artistic table setting and as gifts to encourage reflection and sketching. I invited everyone to pause and write about artists they have collaborated with—or dream of collaborating with—and what kind of work could come from those creative bonds.
I also shared my own artwork Inside Outside Recovery, Rain (Clinton Hill, Brooklyn), 2021, accompanied by a beautiful song written in response by my friend, musician José Carlos Cruzata Revé. This cross-art form collaboration became a jumping-off point for our own work about creative friendship and collaboration.
Click to listen to the beautiful music created by José Carlos Cruzata Revé.
AYB Advanced Studio at work.
Many of participating artists took the time to describe the concept of the work created in this session:
Okuhle writes: “I’m titling “The unusual door” when I thought about opening my unusual door I thought about all the creatives I’ll meet when I launch my podcast. All the stories & points of view that will be told. So I created my future podcast set up. A vibrant room, a homey comfortable couch, some plants & a cat. This is the space I envision myself living in my purpose, creating more than I consume & being a vessel.”
Liv explains: “My piece was based off of my sister-in-law who owns an independent book shop called Black Rock Books. Watching her use her creativity to create this space and bring community together in her neighborhood has inspired me incredibly. We even collaborated on an AYB art exhibit showcasing work of banned books in America. June 24th marked 2 years of the shop being open! Happy birthday Black Rock Books!
The lesson was interesting because I made list of people and had a set plan of what I was going to create, but when it came down to it my ideas switched right towards the end when I thought about who I’ve collaborated with.”
Lilo's painting brings us closest to Little Man Little Man in content! : “I explored the growing relationship between my niece & I, now that she’s 4 and has so much to say it’s fun playing and learning together so I added things we experienced together like eating watermelon, playing on the phone & with a noise egg. Her smile reminds me of my brothers so I tried to highlight it and her shiny big beautiful forehead is centered at the bottom.”
Maria tells us: “In our pieces, we were asked to think of someone who inspires us that may use a different form of art than us and how we may collaborate. I decided to paint my girlfriend who likes to play the drums. I wanted to incorporate the warm colors seen in many of Beauford Delaney’s paintings. The brush strokes and the point of view are intentional to try and portray the sound of her drumming. Art inspires art.
Cheyenne’s piece is linked to her work in class with Fatima: “The idea behind my piece is what Van Gogh might create if he were inspired by Vivaldi’s four seasons. Van Gogh’s story inspires me as a painter and I love listening to the four seasons while painting so it felt natural to imagine them together.”
Leo’s piece The Escape “has a lingering theme which deals with the thought of loneliness. Greatly inspired by my favorite writer Edgar Allen Poe. Just like himself in his life he wrote a lot of poetry but many did not understand it, therefore they did not like it. It wasn't everybody but just like the eyes are staring at the (chimera) subject in the center of the page. The eyes are looking in a judgmental manner. all pupils focused on the subject except one the raven staring at you, the viewer. You can be their escape from the page. The composition emphasizes what is going on in the mind with what we have going on in our waking life. The red background meant to give you the perception of a dream with the plants, vines and eyes all closing in. While the raven's shadow side is strong (like Edgar's alter ego) he was able to express himself freely through his writings, without fear of repercussion. Its beak eating away at the perception that Edgar writing has a place in his time literature. One isn't always in tune or aware of our shadow side which is why it's behind us. Just like a bench in the middle of an empty street, the raven offered support to a mind that is filled with thoughts of the figure sitting on it.”
My piece, writes Evelyn, "is a tribute to a longtime friendship with my college studio-mate. Back in the day, we modeled for each other (her sculptures from molds of the body, my portraits painted from life) and workshopped ideas all the time. Recently, we’ve resumed that creative intimacy from afar. The lesson’s focus on Beauford Delaney’s vibrant yellows called to mind the color palette of my friend’s new sculpture-in-progress, so I began with yellow and purple, gradually building up organic forms evocative of fungi (or coral, as pointed out in critique!). A portrait from memory of my friend is embedded in the composition, as is a reference to one of the sculptures she made of me during college."
We were thrilled that Evelyn’s friends Morgan and Anna returned for a class while Anna visit’s from abroad.
Asiana honors her ancestral Seminole artists working across mediums. She explains: "This watercolor is called “patchwork”. It’s based on the patchwork pattern in a film photo I took of my cousin Anissa. She was wearing a skirt my grandmother made. After my grandma passed we were both lucky enough to inherit some of her skirts."
Simone digs deep with this artwork: "I chose to collaborate with the visual artist Wangechi Mutu and the musician Ali Farka Touré.
Mutu’s language voiced the way my body was treated during my treatment for breast cancer. My doctors were compassionate but the process left me feeling like my body was more of a specimen and object rather than a temple.
To cope with the pain, I added meditation to my morning practice of prayer and scripture. Ali Farka Touré’s album, “In the Heart of The Moon” was the soundtrack to my daily meditation hour for that entire year. In this space I was blessed with beauty, respite, comfort and wisdom."
Kahlid describes his inspiration: “My sketch in class was inspired by our conversation about Baldwin and Beauford Delaney. I wanted to create an idea 💡 of what a character would look like in a screenplay I am working on. She is a "muse" and inspires artists...but she is very formal and believes art is "coloring within the lines".
Her lines are straight and her colors have deep meaning. Art is never MESSY ✨️ its always grounded in deep deep meaning. Because "art is life". Which is the oxymoron isn't it? Because life is VERY messy.”
Liv wraps up saying: “You made the studio so cozy and beautiful. ART YARD BKLYN is putting so much positivity out into the world, thank you so much!”
WHAT WE ARE READING
Speculative Light: The Arts of Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin, edited by Amy J. Elias is a collection deeply considered essays by some of today’s most vital voices in African American, queer, and visual culture studies, this book is a profound exploration of the lifelong friendship and artistic kinship between painter Beauford Delaney and writer James Baldwin.
What stood out to me most is the piece by Nickolas Boggs titled Baldwin/Delaney/Cazac, which takes a heartfelt look at the origin and legacy of Baldwin’s only children’s book, Little Man, Little Man. The story of its creation is as moving as the book itself: a project initiated at the request of Baldwin’s young nephew, inspired and visually shaped by Beauford Delaney, and ultimately brought to life through the delicate linework of French artist Yoran Cazac—a younger artist and friend of Delaney’s.
Though Delaney’s health was in serious decline during the development of the book, his early sketches and ideas informed its tone and spirit. Baldwin and Cazac completed the book in his honor, and brought it to him while he was hospitalized, hoping it would lift his spirit. This act of love and artistic collaboration exemplifies what I found most powerful in Speculative Light—its deep dive into collaborative inspiration, and the sacred trust between artists who understand one another not only through intellect, but through shared vision and soul.
As Baldwin eloquently deemed it “the bond of the unusual door” resonates through this book. It speaks to the threshold Delaney and Baldwin crossed together—two Black, queer men who defied erasure by building a life of art, friendship, and care across countries and decades.
Beyond the stories, I must say the images are beautifully selected and printed—a treat for art book lovers. Though it’s an average-sized paperback, the pages are rich and substantial, with vividly printed color plates that are both generously sized and well cross-referenced in the essays.
In exploring topics from queerness and masculinity to Black childhood, jazz, expatriate life, and the politics of seeing and being seen, this collection is not just about Delaney and Baldwin—it’s about their reciprocal bond represents. A treat for artists and readers interested in how friendship can be a radical act—and how, even in adversity, art can still be a joyful offering.
Other Art News
Knowing of our interest in books and the culmination of our Year of Literacy, AYB Teaching Artist Iviva Olenick recommends Diana Schmertz: Language to Dream, now on permanent installation at East 125th Street Carnegie Library, Harlem, NY.
“The imagery and text in the first mural support the ideas of dreaming and discovery in the second mural, Freedom to Imagine. Without the freedom to read and access information we could not so easily engage in artistic and intellectual contemplation and creation. The top wall has poems, quotes and excerpts that reflect this freedom, as well as the joy and desire to read and create. The text creates a patch-worked over the different readers showing connectivity through reading.”
~ From the artists promotional materials
Diana Schmertz, Language to Dream, dye sublimation on aluminum, ©2024
AYB Teaching Artist Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow invites us to her performance Shared Grounds at Hunter’s Point South Park (along Center Blvd, south of 54th Avenue)
Long Island City, NY on Saturday, June 28, 3:00 – 8:00 pm, Rain Date: Sunday, June 29, 2025.
Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow and friends will perform “Picnic: Harvest of the Soft Sweet Sound” at 6:15 – 8:00 pm at The Park of Barnie in Hunter’s Point South Extension
(near Center Blvd, between 55th & 56th Ave's.)
A little tiny (big) painting installation update from my (Meridith) doll house project! Lola approves.
AYB Summer Session 2025
💖🩵💜💛💙🧡❤️💚
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