Unrest Exhibit
This exhibition, which took place at the Albany Barn between November 9th and December 7th, 2020, featured artists addressing the challenges of this time through the power of visual expression. 2020 was a tumultuous year. In the month of May citizens took to the streets to protest the continued killings of unarmed Black people at the hands of the police. This unfolded against the backdrop of a global pandemic occurring during an especially contentions election year. Black Dimensions in Art, Inc asked the artists to interpret and define unrest visually through their artwork.
Denelle Abel
Denelle Abel, the owner of GifteD, was born in Mt. Vernon, New York and was raised in The Bronx. Denelle relocated to Albany, New York to study Psychology at the University at Albany. She later continued her education at the University at Albany and earned her Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling. She is currently studying the Arts & Sciences of Cosmetology at the Orlo School of Hair and Design. Denelle believes that beauty can be found in everything and has strived to capture this mantra in her art for as long as she can remember. Her artistic ability was awakened when she was in the first grade and has continued to blossom throughout her life. She later attended the Rudolf Steiner High School (Waldorf Education) located in New York, New York where her artistic ability was sharpened and refined. Her Wall Art Collection features bold colors and metallic accents. The Dimensional Canvas Collection features a black canvas with bold colors providing a contrast of color through acrylic paint, fabric or glitter and will always feature a dimensional component. Denelle currently resides in Albany, NY where she continues to create and share her artwork with the world.
Statement
Denelle considers herself a contemporary artist and pulls from her experiences of being a Mental Health Counselor, Cosmetologist, Minister and Caribbean-American woman. Her artwork (Gifted Depictions) is featured as a facet of her business (GifteD). GifteD Depictions are separated into two collections that are called the “Wall Art Collection ” and the “Dimensional Canvas Collection”. She has selected one Depiction from her Wall Art Collection and two Depictions from her Dimensional Canvas Collection in this exhibit. Today, her pieces reflect her experience of being a black woman in today’s America fighting to be seen and heard.
Instagram: .gifted.
Facebook: facebook.com/GifteDbyD
Email: GifteDbyD@gmail.com
Marcus Kwame Anderson
Marcus Kwame Anderson is an illustrator, fine artists, comic book creator who graduated from S.U.N.Y. College at Fredonia with a degree in illustration. Most of his work is a representation of the beauty and diversity of the African Diaspora. Marcus believes that the arts can be a powerful vehicle for change, and art is his favorite form of communication.
Website: marcuskwame.com
Instagram: @marcus_kwame
Royal Brown
Royal is as much a shaman and mystic as an artist. He grew up with his father, art director in the Office of General Services for the state of New York. He was mentored from an early age, experimenting with pastels, oil, and acrylic paints, and with early efforts in sculpture. He earned a BA in fine arts from SUNY Albany in 1995. He then began to pursue gallery showings including the Knott Gallery at the Schenectady Museum, Hudson Valley Community College and the NYS Bi-Annual exhibit. Currently he works out of his studio at the Albany Barn and continues to show at various area venues.
Contact: omi7tola@gmail.com
Statement
“Earth dance” The angels and the ancestors watch the planet. They see the unrest that is shaking the world. Their love is universal and pours out to all living things. Know yourselves by your collective works. With or without you, the angels, the ancestors, and the earth will dance.
Janel Crandall
Janel Crandall is originally from Fort Worth, TX and grew up in Bogota, NJ; Most of Crandall’s creative art work is based in Albany, NY, where she works and lives now.Crandall finds inspiration in many places such as the people and places she has grown up in, which has influenced her creative style and process. She creates art to explore self and the concept of identity. Crandall specializes in oil paint and colored pencil and focuses on the black woman and the concept of identity. She also enjoys working with different print making processes and clay.Her art style is Illustrative and colorful. Crandall is motivated by family, friends, self, and how that effects and defines her. She has been creating art for 6 years. Artists she draws inspiration from are Kara Walker, Daniella Doling. Crandall finds their work to be exploratory and narrative driven much like her own. I intend for others to experience myself and a sense of curiosity in who others are to themselves when they see my work.
Website: crandallart.com
Instagram: https: @jcrandallarts
Facebook: facebook.com/janartistt
Statement
One quote from Malcolm X came to mind for my sketchbook as of late, “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.” I just think about how we are not seen for who we are but for what we have or can do; about bodies that are coveted on everyone that is not a black woman; about hairstyles and fashion that are noticed on a lighter skin. About how we are entertainment as long as it doesn’t offend people. My skin is often made political but this is not one of those conversations. I want to try and create work that allows ME to be seen as me “A BLACK WOMAN”. I’ve been doing some drawings based off of this theme and a song called Brown-skin Girl by Beyoncé. A song that celebrates what I want to convey. I’m trying to capture that lost/ unseen magic. A lot of my recent work has been about identity and this work is continuing that exploration
Francelise Dawkins
Francelise Dawkins is a Parisian “textile collagist”, who’s been living in the U.S. for four decades. She first studied Fiber Arts at the Art League School of Indianapolis before moving to NY, where she developed her “meditative” concept for interior designs through textile collages. She has since exhibited or taught at the American Craft Museum in NYC, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the New York State Museum, in Albany, NY, and other renowned venues. One of her installations was part of the “Putt-Modernism” show at the Hyde Collection Museum in Glens Falls, NY. She’s produced essays about her art and the role of intuition in publications, such as Margaret Blanchard’s “From the Listening Place”. She designed the art cover for Gisele Pineau’s French novel, “L’Espérance-Macadam”. Many of her pieces have been shown in magazines, on cable network TV, and books, such as Carolyn Mazloomi’s contemporary art quilt book, “Spirit of the Cloth”.
New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo recognized her with a certificate of appreciation for her support of and dedication to perpetuating the Arts.
Her work is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of the American Quilter’s Society in Paducah, KY.
Website: francelisedawkins.com
Instagram: @franceliseartstudios
Email: francelisart@gmail.com
Statement
This piece is about art as another dimension out of the void, as we get to experience life when community celebrations are indefinitely put on hold. Without their emotional support, without that feeling that a journey is being shared when we enjoy an outdoor event in a happy crowd, the longing for community gatherings around the arts only grows. We end up coming undone, becoming agitated with swollen imaginations. We make our memories of such events, more vibrant, or rosier when touched by nostalgia. Coming together, coming to gather, has turned into a rare luxury, an unquenchable craving. Making this collage, I caught myself indulging in blazing desires for anything enchanting and luminous that makes the human tribe look up and smile as one, above the barely visible buildings of the city. Like fast food fails to provide the quality nurturance a meal prepared with time and love offers, the proliferation of zoom-ish landscapes as virtual compensations, leaves us unfulfilled, hungry for the real thing. I long to revel in the energy of live bands, the sight of dancers, and the laughter of children playing during a Festival.
Yet now, feelings furloughed….
Bianca DiLella
I am a local working artist who was born and raised in Albany, NY. I am currently employed as an Art Instructor at Living Resources Arts in Albany. I had some formal training but am otherwise self-taught. My commissioned pieces are mainly in private collections. My painting themes consist of portraits in acrylic and watercolor mediums. I try to convey positivity and hope and warmth with color. I believe my work reflects a mixture of modern, contemporary, and expressionist influence with a romantic feel.. My subject matter is often Mother and Child because that relationship is one of the most influential relationships a human being will ever have in their lifetime.
Contact: biancadilella.wixsite.com/website
Paula Drysdale Frazell
I was exposed to many different artists and mediums as a child and spend a lot of time making messes while making things.
It was seeing the work of Romare Bearden that created my passion for collage. I was fascinated by his work, in love with the way he combined different elements together to make something brand new.
Not much has changed since then. I still spend a lot of time making messes while making things. Each element of my work, be it photographs, hand painted papers fabrics or acrylic paint has its own vibrant personality. My challenge is to combine these elements in such a way that they speak in one voice.
This piece is part of a small series I am working on about living in the shadow of uncertainty. While we face large obstacles, while our daily lives are bombarded with stress, unrest and fear we still have each other.
Instagram: @collagesista
Facebook: facebook.com/collagesista
Kim Kaiser
Kim Kaiser is an Artist, Community Organizer and Poet from New York City. She works in acrylics, clay and charcoal.
Contact: Ayabaarts@gmail.com
Statement
This piece called K’idime ayati means Ancestor in The Ethiopian Language of Amharic. This piece represents ancestral ties – the King, the Queen and the Diaspora in between as a reminder that we carry our ancestors with us, our bloodlines are strong, royal and the cradle of Mankind.
Liana ‘Kim
Liana ‘Kim is Brooklyn, NY born; Troy, NY raised. Liana ‘Kim is a self-taught artist who in her early teenage years discovered that art became a window for her to cope with anxiety and depression. In 2015, after obtaining an Associate’s Degree in applied science from The Art Institute of New York City with a major in Web Design and Interactive Media; Liana ‘Kim picked up a brush as a way of making extra money. Liana ‘Kim has since hosted art shows with The African American Cultural Center of the Capital Region (AACCCR) in Albany, NY and Troy Kitchen in Troy, NY. Liana ‘Kim also partners with Young Futures Inc. to produce art classes for children. Liana ‘Kim is known for art that reflects the struggles and hardships of being an Afro-Latina in today’s society and her art also touches on topics such as self-exploration, gender stereotypes, and woman empowerment.
Website: theprettypainter.com
Instagram: theprettypainter
Facebook: facebook.com/theprettypainterr
Clifford Oliver
Although born and raised in New York City, Clifford Oliver has spent his entire adult life photographing in rural New York. A veteran photographer of staff positions with Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse and New York State’s Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in Albany enhanced Clifford’s quest to uncover the unconventional and expose the beauty in the world around us. As we become more urban, he hopes his photographs will remind us, will celebrate, other earthlings and their relationships with us.
Contact: cliffordoliver527@gmail.com
Statement
Aside from being an artist photographer, I am a historian and a veteran of America’s military. Service in the U. S. Navy during a time of war has taught me that when you lose, you don’t get to fly your flag. History has taught me that here, in New York; we went to war to defend the Stars and Stripes a cost of 60,000 lives. A cost no other state claims. The Stars & Bars attacked the Stars and Stripes, declaring themselves an enemy of the United States of America and they lost. No one has a right to fly that flag. I am tearing down every confederate flag I see; it doesn’t belong in America and doubly doesn’t belong in New York.
Jacqueline A. Lake-Sample
Jacqueline A. Lake-Sample, founder, JALL CREATIONS; past President of Black Dimensions in Art, Inc. (BDA), President of House of Nehesi Publisher’s Foundation, criminologist, and current Co-Treasure of BDA.
Originally from the Caribbean island of St. Martin, Jacqueline has lived in New York since childhood and has long been a lover and student of the arts. Once described as “a criminologist with a passion for the arts,” Jacqueline holds Master’s degrees in criminology from C.W. Post Center Long Island University and SUNY at Albany. Jacqueline has exhibited in numerous venues in the Capital Region, including the Schenectady Museum (now miSci), the New York State Museum, Capital Repertory Theatre, the Jerry Burrell Gallery, Wellington’s Herbs and Spices, the Albany Barn, the Art Center of the Capital Region, African American Cultural Center of the Capital Region Inc., the Saratoga Arts Center Gallery, Living Resources Arts 70 Beekman Street Gallery and Pause Gallery. At her company, JALL CREATIONS, she designs fine hand-crafted jewelry incorporating sterling silver, pearls, 14k gold, gemstones and treasures from the sea. Her designs are unusual and eclectic. Jacqueline looks forward to devoting all of her time to creating. She is an abstract artist that uses mixed media in various aspects of her work.
Contact: bakari42@yahoo.com
Artist Statement
Art, in all of its forms, allows us to see possibilities and provides us with a means to connect with each other.
This work is a continuation of my journey with words and the images they evoke. We are confronted in these rapidly changing times with a myriad of social, political, environmental, economic, health and yes personal upheavals. We come to a place where we stop and say “Enough”. It explores avenues for creating more positive sustainable spaces..
George Simmons
I make Art in a variety of media: painting, photography, drawing, collage and digital drawing. I mostly create abstract imagery and am fascinated by its unique ability to convey ideas, concepts, emotions and feelings. But most importantly abstract art touches a place in my brain and heart that is unexplainable, that is intangible.
Contact: gwsproductions@yahoo.com
Artist Statement
Unrest: “A state of dissatisfaction, disturbance and agitation in a group of people, typically involving public demonstration or disorder”. This disturbance or demonstration can often initiate social change: good or bad. My image focuses on the idea that a state of unrest in a group is made up of individuals who made a conscious decision to participate. “Mourning Star” is a portrait of one such individual.
Stephen J. Tyson
Stephen J. Tyson was born and raised in New York City. He graduated from the High School of Music & Art, attended the Art Students League of New York, the Rhode Island School of Design, earned his BFA from Manhattan Ville College, and his MFA from the City College of New York.
He was tenured as an art teacher with the New York City Board of Education and as an associate professor of studio art and art history at the University of Pittsburgh in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He has been a fine arts faculty member at Siena College, SUNY-Albany, Union College, and he is currently an Instructor of Fine Arts at SUNY-Schenectady and SUNY-Adirondack.
In 1988 and 1995, he was awarded Fulbright-Hays Fellowships to study in Nigeria and in Namibia and Botswana, respectively. Those experiences further inspired his interest in pattern design, evident in a series of paintings and drawings he has continued to produce since 1994. He has also drawn inspiration from the field of cellular biology, astronomy, illuminated manuscripts, Australian Aboriginal art, and the mural designs of the Kassena in West Africa, digital photography, and music.
His work has been featured at venues such as the New York State Museum, the Schenectady Museum (now miSci) and the National Black Fine Art Show (NBFAS) in New York City, and is included in the collections of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Schenectady Museum (miSci), Hudson Valley Community College, Siena College, as well as in numerous private collections.
Mr. Tyson has also served as a curator, lecturer, arts consultant, panelist (including NYSCA’s Special Arts Services), moderator, and gallery assistant.
Contact: sjsr.@aol.com
Statement
These Times (2020), comprised of acrylic, oil paint marker, and colored pencil on paper, began during the early months of the current pandemic after I rediscovered an unfinished piece of art that I had initiated several years ago.
I felt compelled to bring this unresolved piece to completion, trusting that I would discover a solution during the creative process.
Although I didn’t begin with a specific idea of what the artwork would represent, I sensed that it was somehow connected to our collective effort to see our way through the chaos of these times, along with the anxiety it has produced.
I included variations of a grid motif within the composition. They represent my effort to keep in check my emotions of anger and frustration (seen in the underlying green and red brushstrokes) with the collective inability to effectively and consistently address our current global crises.
The grids also represent as a way to ameliorate the power of destructive external forces during this period. In so doing, they take on a more uplifting and inspired compositional role.
Stephen J. Tyson, MFA
November 2020
Acknowledgements
Marcus Kwame Anderson, Co-Curator
Jacqueline A. Lake-Sample, Co-Curator
Kelvin Sapp, Tanya Owens and Stephen J. Tyson
Albany Barn, Inc.
Kristen Holler, Executive Director
Casey Polomaine, Director of Programming and Residencies
Black Dimensions in Art, Inc would like to thank:
