Bronx Exhibition Takes ‘A Real Look at Africa’

Opening Feb. 3, the “Bronx:Africa” exhibition will showcase artistic interpretations of the African continent with a Bronx angle.
The show features the works of 25 artists and will be located at the Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos Community College. Curator LeRonn P. Brooks, a faculty member at Lehman College and a curator at the Bronx Council on the Arts, says that “the show was formed around the question of how to give language to the Bronx’s African communities,” writes Will Speros of The Riverdale Press.
“What does it mean that many people from the continent are in the Bronx? How do we actually recognize the diversity of what the Bronx is and recognize the voices and influences?” he mused. “Really, it is an exploration of influences of African cultures in the Bronx, the idea of individuality within larger communities.”
While not every artist featured in the exhibit is African or a resident of the Bronx, the multimedia show will cast a spotlight on the African spirit within the borough and how the vast identity of the continent is translated.
“Overturned” is one of the paintings showcased in “Bronx:Africa.” The work, by Latino artist Nicky Enright, displays a world map that has been flipped, putting the continent of Africa in the middle.
“The whole show is saying, ‘take another look, take a real look at Africa,’” he added. “It is humanity’s motherland, where we all come from and yet it gets this negative connotation. I like the idea of overturning that. Symbolically I’m overturning this idea that Africa is somehow below, inferior and putting it front and center.”

Voices of NY

Posted by admin on Feb 14 2016. Filed under Artcultainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry