JUSTICE was an art exhibition hosted by the Bronx River Art Center in the autumn of 2020, taking place while New York City has been in lockdown due to COVID-19 and has begun to partially re-open. The artists presented work to create a dialogue around the racial and social disparities that have been exacerbated by the Pandemic, resulting in the loss of thousands of Black, Brown, Asian and Indigenous lives. This includes the disruption of education and social services to working-class and poor families, food insecurity, urban violence and police brutality. The exhibition was curated by Juanita Lanzo (bx200.com/portfolio/juanita-l....
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:56 - Gail's Introduction
06:32 - What's Next?
07:26 - Juanita Lanzo (Exhibition Overview)
16:05 - Laura Alvarez
19:17 - Rejin Leys
27:15 - Tjay Mohammed
36:40 - Tammy Wofsey
42:22 - Discussion/Q&A
42:55 - Inspiration for Laura Alvarez's mixture of chromosomes and faces
49:11 - Inspiration for Laura Alvarez's "Race 1"
51:00 - The Influence of Bob Blackburn on Tammy Wofsey's Work
55:20 - Rejin Leys on COVID-19 Dreams
58:06 - Adapting to Life and Making Art During the Pandemic
1:17:06 - Public Response to Window Art, Exhibition
1:20:48 - Putting Together a Printmaking Workshop During the Pandemic
1:25:12 - How Are Things Looking for the Future
About the Artists:
Laura Alvarez was born in Valencia, Spain and studied an MA in Fine Arts in Spain and England. In NYC, she juggles between her city job, her artist career, and her commitment to her Bronx community. She is the Co-Founder, Vice-President and COO of BxArts Factory, a non profit organization whose mission is to make art accessible to everyone in the Bronx. She has exhibited all over Europe and New York in collective and solo shows. In most of her shows she tries to program free workshops to pass along her love for art and her mantra: “everyone is an artist“. www.lauralvarez.com/
Rejin Leys is a mixed media artist and paper maker based in New York, whose work has been exhibited at such venues as Centro Cultural de España, Santo Domingo, DR; Kentler International Drawing Space, NY; Queens Museum, NY; and Les Ateliers J.R. Jerome, PaP, Haiti. Her work is in the collections of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Yale University, and Rutgers University Caribbean Studies Department, and she is a recipient of a fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts.
rejinleys.com/
Tijay Mohammed is a Ghanaian-born artist who has exhibited his works nationally and internationally, including features at Katonah Museum of Art NY, Hudson River Museum NY, Materials for the Arts NY, Art League Huston, Longwood Art Gallery NY, Green Drakeumms Art Gallery PA, and The National Museum of Ghana. He is committed to working with the diverse communities with which he surrounds himself. The artist currently resides in The Bronx, NY and also maintains a studio in Ghana.
artoftijay.com/
Tammy Wofsey is a visual artist with a focus in printmaking and book arts. She established Plotzing Press, a publishing press and printmaking studio in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx. Her work varies in size and type, from elaborate, hand-bound art books to large, multi panel prints based on natural forms. The paper-based prints are both visual and tactile, combining strong images based on natural forms with deep embossed surfaces. The artist's work has been installed in libraries, public spaces and private collections.
www.plotzingpress.com/
Links:
www.bronxriverart.org - Bronx River Art Center website
thebaptismpoem.org - Carl Hancock Rux's "The Baptism" visual poem
www.rbpmw-efanyc.org - Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop @ the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts
Music:
Bass N Djembe Breakdown by Brian Holtz Music
Link: filmmusic.io/song/6978-bass-n...
License: filmmusic.io/standard-license
Edited by Ukari Bakosi