PIGMENT INTERNATIONAL HEADING TO NYC
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So much art, so little time. The Pigment International team is heading to NYC this week to experience Black History Month through Art. After all the theme of this year’s commemoration is We’ll be visiting some of our favorite galleries including Bill Hodges Gallery, Calabar Gallery, Dorsey Fine Art, Bishop Galleryand Welancora Gallery. And will check out the new KS Project, a partnership with Galerie Carole Kvasnevski in Paris. Pigment International first met the gallerist at the 1–54 Contemporary Art Show in Marrakech last year.
We’ll attend the opening of the Harlem Fine Art Show on next Friday, where Mahogany Gallery’s Scott Terry will be exhibiting, and that Saturday see our favorite Colorado artist Thomas Lockhart in the premier of the documentary Art Titans. Then it’s off to the Brooklyn Museum — Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys and Harlem Renaissance at the Metropolitan Museum. And we’ll make a stop by the Schomburg Center to visit sculptor M. Scott Johnson.
We’ll be bringing you all the art news from the Big Apple so stay tuned.
BLACK CREATIVITY GALA
The Black Creativity Gala was held at the Museum of Science and Industry on Saturday.
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DECADENCE OF ANOTHER KIND ART TALK
Decadence of Another Kind continues to get rave reviews most recent during Bridgeport Art Center’s Open Studio on Friday. On Saturday September Gray moderated an Art Talk with Patricia Andrews-Keenan of Pigment International, her partner in presenting the show and art appraiser Diane Carr. Joining the conversation were art collectors, Roland Criswell and Joe Coelho both of whom are collectors of works by Jamel Wright, Sr., Kevin Cole and Basil Watson, artists featured in Decadence. The show continues through March 1st.
WISCONSIN BLACK ART AND CULTURE EXPO — RACINE WISCONSIN
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JOYCE OWENS
The art community is mourning the passing of Joyce Owens, (1947–2024) a figurative artist who wanted people to look beyond the outer layer of skin and search the many levels of personality and humanity within. To look beyond the masks — the many faces we all wear. In her words, she wanted people to appreciate, in particular, the range of surface appearance among African-Americans and then look longer and deeper to find the beauty, both obvious and hidden.
Owens attended Howard University, where she earned her B.F.A. degree in art and Yale University, where she earned her M.F.A. degree in painting. Owens moved to Chicago where she spent eight years working for WBBM-TV, CBS Channel 2 as the graphic arts coordinator while painting and exhibiting her art.
Owens’ work has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago magazine, The Chicago Reader, New Art Examiner, Rolling Out Chicago, TimeOut Chicago, Chicago’s PBS affiliate’s Art Beat Chicago, CBS2-TV, ABC7-TV Chicago and other magazines and newspapers in Chicago and other cities where her art has been shown.
In 2006, Owens was appointed curator of the Galleries Program at Chicago State University. That same year, she was awarded first prize by Margaret Hawkins, a critic for ArtNews Magazine, for her Survivor Spirits Installation at the ninth Annual Art Open at Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, having been previously awarded first prize by the artist Faith Ringgold in the 5th International Open. Owens has worked for Random House as a children’s book illustrator and was hired to paint the official portrait of former Chicago mayor Eugene Sawyer, among other commissions and honors. Owens was a long time member of Sapphire and Crystals, a collective of African American women artists, and of the Black Artists of D.C. Owens is featured in the “I’ve Known Rivers” project on the website of the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco and was an associate editor of the Journal of African American History.
Owens is survived by husband Monroe Anderson and sons Kyle and Scott.
KULTURE MUSEUM PARTNERS WITH CHICAGO CLUBS ON BLACK HISTORYMONTH POP-UP ART EXHIBIT
In honor of Black History Month, the Kulture Museum and Mogul Nation Purpose Academy (Mogul Nation) are partnering with the Chicago Cubs and Marquee Sports Network on a pop-up art exhibit at Gallagher Way which will display works of art created by young program participants from across the city. The pop-up will open Monday, February 19, from noon — 6 p.m. CT in the Marquee Sports Network space at Gallagher Way (3643 N. Clark Street) and will run through March 15th.
WINTRUST MURALS (photo in folder)
Chicago’s newest Wintrust mural features a vibrant interpretation of the positive impact i.c.stars is making on young adults in traditionally underserved areas through the strength of technology. Designed by Chicago-based artist Trotter Alexander, the mural amplifies i.c.stars’ mission of providing young adults with technology-based workforce development, community leadership training, internships, and job placement. Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2024, i.c.stars also has a program in Milwaukee and in 2023 launched in Kansas City.
PERSONAL STRUCTURES — BEYOND BOUNDARIES
The European Cultural Centre (ECC) is delighted to announce that the seventh edition of Personal Structures will open in Venice, Italy, on the 20th of April and run until the 24th of November, 2024. Press previews and openings will be held on the 18th and 19th of April, 2024.
The biennial contemporary art exhibition invites artists and multidisciplinary creatives from across the world to transform once again the historical venues of Palazzo
Bembo, Palazzo Mora and Marinaressa Gardens.
