GALLERY 18 BLACK HISTORY VIRTUAL RECEPTION/MEET THE ARTISTS BEHIND THE PAINTINGS
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NY1 News Coverage Gallery 18 Black History Month 2021 |
www.riverdaley.org/black-history-month-virtual-exhibit/
Ken Jackson: America
Dennis Shelton: Broken America
If Not Now When?: Celebrating Black History MonthGallery 18 is pleased to announce our second annual exhibit of Celebrating Black History Month, entitled If Not Now, When. It will be on virtual display only from February 1 to March 1, with a Virtual Opening Reception on Sunday, February 14 from 12-2pm. The day coincides with Frederick Douglass’s birthday.
This year, Gallery 18 thought, with its exhibit title, to seize the immediate moment, the one born out of the Black Lives Matter protests during the summer in this country, indeed throughout the world, propelled by the death of George Floyd. The theme seeks to capture the spirit of this movement and to keep it before our eyes. Its origin are the words of Hillel the Elder: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And being only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
The art pieces in the show range widely in style, medium, and point-of-view toward the theme, but they are one in packing an emotional punch. In large measure, they are provocative, meant to draw out active engagement and participation around the issue of the great American racial divide and the continuing inequities and pain that plague us.
To ensure high quality, the show was juried by two outstanding artists, Ken Jackson, whose work is graphic illustration, portrait, and figurative paintings, and Dennis Shelton, who works in collage, mixed media, and wood assemblages.
As in last year’s exhibit, the artist backgrounds represented are a healthy mix, underscoring the need for all voices to be raised in order to stimulate thought, discussion and, ultimately, solutions. Now. Not when.
This year, Gallery 18 thought, with its exhibit title, to seize the immediate moment, the one born out of the Black Lives Matter protests during the summer in this country, indeed throughout the world, propelled by the death of George Floyd. The theme seeks to capture the spirit of this movement and to keep it before our eyes. Its origin are the words of Hillel the Elder: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And being only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
The art pieces in the show range widely in style, medium, and point-of-view toward the theme, but they are one in packing an emotional punch. In large measure, they are provocative, meant to draw out active engagement and participation around the issue of the great American racial divide and the continuing inequities and pain that plague us.
To ensure high quality, the show was juried by two outstanding artists, Ken Jackson, whose work is graphic illustration, portrait, and figurative paintings, and Dennis Shelton, who works in collage, mixed media, and wood assemblages.
As in last year’s exhibit, the artist backgrounds represented are a healthy mix, underscoring the need for all voices to be raised in order to stimulate thought, discussion and, ultimately, solutions. Now. Not when.