political art

Join us for the largest installation of the reimagining yet!

We are inviting you to come see the largest installation of the reImagining yet! Join us for a night of amazing art and the full scope of the reImagining project. Come out opening night Wednesday the 27th at 5:30pm at the Longwood Arts Gallery. See below for the full calendar of events celebrating this amazing exhibition!

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BxArts Factory/Montefiore West Indian Day Parade Exhibition Opens!!!

Sorry for the slow post - so much going on, but I wanted to celebrate the amazing opening of the Reflections Exhibition at Montefiore Medical Center. Thanks so much to all who came out to be apart of the night and all those that send their well wishes! A huge thanks to BxArts Factory for giving me the opportunity to be apart of this ground breaking show! A hugs to the awesome Real for giving me a chance to capture her amazing spirit on film!

Dispatches from Awesome?

I have mixed feelings coming out of the Kara Walker exhibit at the Domino Sugae Factory. The work was particularly amazing. It was all strongly executed and amazing to behold. The only sticking point, the mass consumption atmospher of the crowds. It was a sugary delight for a Friday evening. I am sure the history behind the pieces was lost to 99% of the audience. What did they really wait in line for?

 

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And so it has begun...

 

model #22 Ameria Lennard, hair and make up by Jose L. Lopez 

model #22 Ameria Lennard, hair and make up by Jose L. Lopez 

an outtake from the very first reImagining shoot! here's to the next 99! 

Dispatches from Awesome....Belletrix at ImageNation

 

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I just braved the cold for the most amazing exhibition in Harlem - the Belletrix exhibit currently showing at ImageNation!

 

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These amazing artists created a beautiful multi-media exhibition that expressed the diversity of the Black female artist's work. 

 

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And it was wonderfully received! Make sure to catch it before it closes May 1st!

Dispatches from Awesome...Carrie Mae Weems at the Guggenheim

If you have not been to this amazing exhibition currently at the Guggenheim, you must go!

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I am a huge Weems fan girl, but have never seen the entire Kitchen Table Series exhibited together. It is so intricately woven, it made me want to weep! Check it out on level 2!

 

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Then head to level 4 for the ground breaking From Here... Series and just bask in the brilliance of her ability to make text and image bend to her will!

 

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Out of my overwhelming respect for the artist, I will not post the  few picks of the exhibit I was able to sneak in, but I will show you how well received her work was. I heart you Carrie Mae!

 

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The reImagining Speaks: Model #12 CharLena Pearson-Fulcher

The reImagining Speaks is a video series that gives voice to the women lending their images to the reImagining. This series allows you to hear for yourself why this project is so important to me and these 100 women. Listen closely:

 

Who is CharLena Pearson-Fulcher?  I am a writer, performer, and entrepreneur.  All of those my the world of reality makes me a risk-taker. I’m a believer in divining what I want and then going after it, which in the so-called “real world” is defined as being risky.  I am an intelligent, driven, energetic, funny, loving, healthy, vivacious, prosperous and compassionate individual.  I have three new wedding books coming out this year and my competition, that I founded (the Wedding Cake Taste-Off) in 2011,  for the emerging baker will have a 2nd outing this year in Manhattan.  I feel blessed to be alive in this day and time and fully expect to take advantage of living in these times.

Our very first reImagining Salon!

Honestly words can not describe how amazing this night was for me - so I will let our resident genius videographer Aulistar Mark demonstrate his skills with this amazing recap of an extraordinary night:

A huge thank you to BFB Architect and Balance Integration for letting us meet in your beautiful office space!

idiStudios teams up with Colloquy Collective to realize images for the new production of Wine in the Wilderness

“Like snowflakes, the human pattern is never cast twice. We are uncommonly and marvelously intricate in thought and action, our problems are most complex and, too often, silently borne." - Alice Childress

Faren for Collective Collective Wine in the Wilderness, Courtney

 

I have had the ultimate collaboration! Imagine being able to translate into images the text of an amazing Black female playwright for the production of one of her most amazing plays dealing with the topics of the misrepresentation of the Black female image for a Black female producer and director! I know it's a run on sentence, but run with me on this one guys! I was more than thrilled to lend my camera skills to Courtney Harge of Colloquy Collective for their new production of Wine in the Wilderness. Harge created the collective because " We at Colloquy Collective feel it is important to mine existing work for jewels that create new contexts for our present conditions." The play, which runs from March 7th through March 17th at JACK, is the company’s inaugural production. Directed by Harge, Wine in the Wilderness examines the issues of racial identity, class striation, art’s purpose, and male/female power dynamics. Originally presented in 1969, it tells the story of a Black male artist as he paints a triptych on Black womanhood, and the Black woman who causes him to reexamine his approach. This play remains poignant and relevant over four decades after its first production. Above is one of the two images I produced for the play - you have to come out and see the play to see the second image! The play opens Thursday March 7th with a great reception afterwards! If you can't make one of the shows - then support the project's funding campaign and support the major tenant of the reImagining - creating new paths for the real voices of Black women!

The reImagining Speaks: Model #27 Daralyn Jay

The reImagining Speaks is a video series that gives voice to the women lending their images to the reImagining. This series allows you to hear for yourself why this project is so important to me and these 100 women. Listen closely:  

A versatile actor, vocalist and writer, Daralyn Jay has worked in theater, film, commercials and voiceover. She is also a regular performer on the New York jazz scene and contributes to lifestyle/arts publications VEVLYN’S PEN and NeoBlack Cinema. http://www.Daralyn.net Twitter:@DaralynJay

The reImagining Speaks: Model #25 Melissa Mendez

The reImagining Speaks is a video series that gives voice to the women lending their images to the reImagining. This series allows you to hear for yourself why this project is so important to me and these 100 women. Listen closely:

Hi my name is Melissa, I want to be known as someone who is hard working, Intelligent and Strong willed to say the least. I am human and neither my hair nor race will define me! Let my efforts and abilities shine through. Founder of The Bronx Naturals LLC An All Natural Soy Candle Company.

The reImagining Speaks: Model #50 LaTonia Phipps

The reImagining Speaks is a video series that gives voice to the women lending their images to the reImagining. This series allows you to hear for yourself why this project is so important to me and these 100 women. Listen closely:

Solo Artist. Writer. And New York Times and New York Post Reviewed actress. Phipps is a woman in charge of her career having created her very own solo show infusing 27 characters and slam poetry. Following a young actress turned writer who finds herself through the spirit of her deceased mother. Phipps is gearing up for a 2013 college tour of this show. More info below. She will also be premiering her new project entitled, "She Who Struggles," a one act that follows two woman (one black the other white) as the tackle the issues of Gentrified harlem through love and poetry. Twitter: @latoniaphipps Facebook: Latonia Phipps (Like and stay updated on upcoming shows) Website: www.latoniaphipps.com

The reImagining Speaks: Model #14 Wendy Petties

The reImagining Speaks is a video series that gives voice to the women lending their images to the reImagining. This series allows you to hear for yourself why this project is so important to me and these 100 women. Listen closely:

 

 

Wendy Petties, Native New Yorker, and powerful hot pink woman is the Founder and Owner of Simmer, LLC. a relationship and sex coaching practice based in NYC.  An advocate of pleasure and free choice she is concerned with the way Black women's sexuality is portrayed in the media and in our own minds.   In both cases Black women are seen as either hoes or just shy of nuns and through her work she certainly has seen all types of women along that spectrum.   Visit Simmer, LLC on Facebook to learn more or reach Wendy.

The reImagining Speaks: Model #11 Francina Connors

The reImagining Speaks is a video series that gives voice to the women lending their images to the reImagining. This series allows you to hear for yourself why this project is so important to me and these 100 women. Listen closely:

The reImagining Speaks: Model #13 Dionne Grayman

The reImagining Speaks is a video series that gives voice to the women lending their images to the reImagining. This series allows you to hear for yourself why this project is so important to me and these 100 women. Listen closely:

Dionne Grayman. Mother. Daughter. Sister. Educator. Blogger. Conversation Starter. Community Engagement Specialist. Co-Founder, Mothers Empowered. Chief Creative Officer, Power Mama Academy. Helping women to embrace the potential of who they can become by celebrating who they already are. The Movement is Mother'Hood Power-Full. Twitter: @MEmpowered

The reImagining Speaks: Model #32 Jeniere Bailey

The reImagining Speaks is a video series that gives voice to the women lending their images to the reImagining. This series allows you to hear for yourself why this project is so important to me and these 100 women. Listen closely:

Jeniere Danyelle Bailey is a healer-intuitive, entrepreneur, stand-up comic looking to be a catalyst for change and inspiration in not only in her community but the world at large. In 2013 she will be debuting an natural spa/skincare line containing exotic ingredients sourced from Africa, Central America & South America. She is hoping the reImagining project will inspire and create a platform to discuss the problems of  racial/ethnic stereotypes in the media and how to heal from the burden.

The reImagining Speaks: Model #47 Chicava HoneyChild

The reImagining Speaks is a video series that gives voice to the women lending their images to the reImagining. This series allows you to hear for yourself why this project is so important to me and these 100 women. Listen closely:

Chicava HoneyChild is a burlesque danseur, actor and producer.  She is the Creative Producer of New York City's Brown Girls Burlesque and teacher at BGB's Broad Squad. She received her MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College her areas of interest being performance art, women of color in burlesque heritage, and sacred sexuality and spirituality. She is currently working on a documentary on the legacy of Women of Color in burlesque. www.chicavahoneychild.com and www.browngirlsburlesque.com

The reImagining Speaks: Model #48 Bianca Bernardez

The reImagining Speaks is a video series that gives voice to the women lending their images to the reImagining. This series allows you to hear for yourself why this project is so important to me and these 100 women. Listen closely: