CALL FOR
BEAUTY Curated by 3.9 Art Collective
inside cover page
CALL FOR
BEAUTY Curated by 3.9 Art Collective January 11 - February 18, 2017
Call for Beauty was presented at Root Division as part of the 2nd Saturday Exhibition Series
CALL FOR
BEAUTY Curated by 3.9 Art Collective
In January and February of 2017, in the face of a tumultuous political climate in which hatred and racism became increasingly present in the national dialogue, Root Division proudly presented an alternative to all the ugliness. Call for Beauty challenges assumptions about the concept of beauty while honoring the historical and ongoing creative presence of black artists in the Bay Area. Curated by 3.9 Art Collective, Call for Beauty addresses traditional and emergent notions of beauty through the manipulation of materials, forms, and space. The 3.9 Art Collective is an association of black artists, curators, and art writers of living in San Francisco. Expanding beyond the reach of their group for this open call exhibition, the 3.9 Art Collective invited members of the black artist community from around the Bay Area to expand the dialogue around historical and contemporary notions of beauty. The resulting exhibition features twentynine artists working in a variety of media. The works featured in this exhibition catalogue offer a wide range of definitions and approaches to the beautiful. This two-month presentation included performances by Lukaza BranfmanVerissimo and Anthony Julius Williams at the January 2nd Saturday reception, and a live musical event at the featuring the jazz trio, Broun Fellinis as part of the February event. This performance was co-presented by the Museum of African Diaspora as part of their exhibition, Where is Here, curated by Jacqueline Francis and Kathy Zarur. Root Division is thrilled to partner with 3.9 Art Collective and MoAD, organizations whose commitment to arts education, innovative programming, and inclusive arts engagement mirrors that of our own. Thank you to the curators and artists for being a part of this important and timely exhibition.
Amy Cancelmo, Art Programs Director, Root Division
Indira Allegra
Kristine Mays*
Lemia Monet Bodden
Channing Morgan
Lukaza Branfman-Verissmo
Sirron Norris*
Brett Cook
Ramekon O'Arwisters*
Michael Covington
William Rhodes*
Cheryl Derricotte
Michael Ross*
Rodney Ewing*
Ron Saunders*
Nina Fabunmi*
Muzae Sesay
Jacqueline Francis*
Shushan Tesfuzigta
Pinto Guino*
Bryan Keith Thomas
Mark Harris*
Lauren Toomer
David Huffman
Arrington West (Ace)
Joonbug
Anthony Julius Williams
Derek Lassiter
Pat Willard
Rhiannon MacFadyen* Christopher Martin
*3.9 Art Collective Member
“Beauty,” according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is “a pleasing quality associated with harmony of form or color, excellence of craftsmanship, truthfulness, originality, or other, often unspecifiable property.” By design, the exhibition, Call for Beauty, is meant to satisfy one or more of these conditions. Anything accepted would be deemed beautiful, and the range of expressive possibilities was infinite. More than anything, the purposefully open concept was meant to pique black San Francisco Bay Area artists’ varied interests. Each work differently communicates the artist’s assertion that she or he has made a beautiful thing. Or put differently, maybe the real takeaway is that the creative impulse itself constitutes beauty. The exhibition is a courted mix of expressive styles, genres, and practices. Surprising are the submissions from artists who showed unexpected sides of themselves. Among these discoveries are a figurative portrait by abstract artist David Huffman, a photo collage from Ramekon O’Arwisters, an allegorical painting from political satirist Mark Harris, and a mixed media assemblage from Pinto Guino who paints geometric abstractions (and under a different name to boot). Shout-outs, appropriate to the notion of a “call,” are due to every participant. They all delivered on their promises to complicate and expand the notion of beauty. Lemia Monet Bodden, Brett Cook, Nina Fabunmi, Kristine Mays, Rhiannon Evans MacFadyen, Sirron Norris, and Ron Moultrie Saunders, Shushan Tesfuzigta, and Arrington West offer the represented body and explore its symbolic aspects. Historical, mythical, and poignant images are claimed and reinterpreted by Rodney Ewing, Christopher Martin, Bryan Keith Thomas, Lauren Toomer, and Anthony Julius Williams. Michael Ross, Muzae Sesay, and Pat Willard work the conventions of landscape, interior study, and still life,
respectively, giving power and energy to spaces and inanimate things. Indira Allegra, Lukaza Branfman-Verrissimo, Cheryl Derricotte, Joonbug, and Williams Rhodes create text and image works with language that we to read, see, and hear in our minds and hearts. Everyday forms and objects are provocatively abstracted, reconstructed, and resituated by Michael Covington, Derek Lassiter, and Channing Morgan. The works in Call for Beauty converse with each other, from one end of the Root Division space to another. And is always the case with exhibitions, so much more is discovered about the work and the premise under which it was brought together after the installation. This outcome was no accident, and yet we are surprised by the richness of the visual conversation and the display’s poetics. During a period in which so many concept exhibitions are disparate in agreement and delivery, Call for Beauty is a reflection of artistic solidarity and group commitment to creating platforms of expression for the black communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are grateful to Root Division staff and volunteers, and to the artists in the exhibition. - Rodney Ewing, Jacqueline Francis, and Ron Moultrie Saunders for The 3.9 Art Collective
Indira Allegra Southern Pantoum: First Stanza, Second Stanza 2011 Cotton, 18 karat gold, silk. 6.75 x 25 in. (each, diptych)
Lemia Monet-Bodden Exuberance Is Beauty, Study #1 2015 Photography 11 x 8 in. each
Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo Reading Black 2016 Acrylic on canvas, birch wood, wooden chair, monotype, found paper, fabric, Dimensions vary (top)
Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo Traces 1 2015 Monotype, collagraph, screen print, Great Grandma Sonia’s fabric scraps, desert branches, rope, paper tape, wood, treasures, cherry wood, nails, cassette tapes, wire, pigment from death valley, palm tree bark, titus canyon rock, milagros 24 x 36 x 31 in. (object dimensions vary)
Brett Cook Turf Dancer - from Clouds In A Teacup 2015 Ink on Arches paper 30 x 22 in.
Michael Covington Untitled
What Dreams May Come
2016
2016
Mixed media
Mixed media
12 x 8 in.
8 x 12 in.
Cheryl Derricotte Mulatresse
Mulatresse de Guadeloupe
Negresse
2016
2016
2016
Kiln formed glass
Kiln formed glass
Kiln formed glass
10 x 8 x 0.25 in
10 x 8 x 0.25 in.
10 x 8 x 0.25 in.
Rodney Ewing Harlem Hellfighters 2016 Dry pigment and silkscreen on panel 24 x 36 x 2 in.
Nina Fabunmi Beauty Beyond 2016 Mixed media 20 x 16 x 1.5 in.
Pinto Guino Reclaimed Beauty 2016 Textile 30.5 x 17 x 9 in.
Mark Harris Untitled, (Blue Female Nude) 2003 Acrylic and enamel on canvas 48 x 36 in.
David Huffman Queen 2011 Oil on canvas 18 x 24 x 1 in.
Joonbug Yes we are, so what 2016 Mixed media on archival paper 18 x 24 in.
Derek Lassiter Come into Existence 2016 Photography 24 x 30 in.
Rhiannon Evans MacFadyen (Don't) Touch My Hair 2014-ongoing Steel, leather, adhesive, human hair Dimensions variable Courtesy of Black & White Projects
Christopher Martin Cheat the Gallows 2017 Fabric 50 x 70 in.
Kristine Mays Power Suit 2016 Wire 41 x 20 x 9 in.
Channing Morgan Reliquary of a Monstrous System 2016 Mixed media 35 x 27 x 7 in.
Sirron Norris The Position of My Freedom
Freedom Position
2016
2016
Acrylic and spray paint
Acrylic and spray paint
16 x 16 x 2 in. (left)
12 x 12 x 2 in.
Ramekon O'Arwisters Sunshine Everywhere — But Never A New Day 2016 Found photographs and printed images of diseased human cells 10 x 10 1.5 in. (each, triptych)
William Rhodes MAN 2015 Found suit case, photo on fabric, paint and neon glass 18 x 16 x 8 in.
Michael Ross They Have Orders to Tear Down This House But They Can't Seem to Find It 2016 Mixed media on paper 26 x 20 in.
Ron Moultrie Saunders Emerging into My Beauty 2016 Photogram-Selenium toned gelatin silver print 24 x 36 x 1 in.
Muzae Sesay The Balcony with a View of the North American Landscape 2016 Acrylic and graphite 36 x 36 x 2 in.
Shushan Tesfuzigta When you part your hair, you are in dialogue with all the women that came before you 2015 Video, (edition of 1) 0:01:49
Bryan Keith Thomas We Are One 2016 23kt gold leaf,antique hat pins, feathers,hair, cotton on wood 30 x 22 x 5 in.
Lauren A. Toomer Figure in Ground 2014 Graphite on paper 30 x 20 in.
Arrington West Pant(HER) Dancing 2016 Mixed media 24 x 16 in.
Anthony Julius Williams
Performance details
SIREN: CALL FROM THE BLACKEST
Song: "Crossing To Safety"
PART OF THE OCEAN
Band: OLOKUN
2017
Music Producer: Winston Berger
Video installation and live
Body Painter: Carolyn Moore
performance on January 14th, 2017
Video Director: Abraham Chan
Pat Willard Dream Life of Fruits and Vegetables, #25 2016 Gelatin silver print 9 x 12 in. 16 x 20 in. (framed)
This two-month presentation also featured a live musical event at the February 2nd Saturday reception featuring the jazz trio, Broun Fellinis. This event is co-presented by the Museum of African Diaspora as part of their current exhibition, Where is Here, curated by Jacqueline Francis and Kathy Zarur. Since the 1990’s Broun Fellinis has been a key component of San Francisco's acid jazz scene. Featured in clubs like Bruno's and Cafe Du Nord, the trio mixes the improvisational style of jazz with dub and funk, drum 'n' bass, Afrobeat and hip-hop. http://www.brounsoun.com/ Root Division is thrilled to partner with 3.9 Art Collective and MoAD, organizations whose commitment to arts education, innovative programming, and inclusive arts engagement mirrors that of our own.
ABOUT MUSEUM OF AFRICAN DIASPORA (MoAD) MoAD invites everyone to engage in the cultural expression of the African Diaspora through contemporary art. Situated in the heart of the Yerba Buena Arts District in San Francisco, MoAD is actively engaged in building a community that inspires, educates and connects people of all ages and backgrounds. MoAD seeks to build a deeper understanding of the African Diaspora through art, programs and events that cultivate wonder and excitement about the ways in which our personal histories are connected. As a nonprofit organization, the museum’s operations and programs are supported by grants and contributions from public and private sources. As a Smithsonian Institution affiliate, MoAD has access to the Smithsonian Institution’s 136 million artifact collection for research, exhibits, and programming. MoAD joins a network of more than 180 organizations in 45 states, Puerto Rico and Panama with a shared goal of creating lasting experiences that educate, inspire, and broaden perspectives on science, history, world culture, and the arts. To learn more and to support MoAD, visit www.moadsf.org.
ABOUT THE MOAD EXHIBITION, WHERE IS HERE Where Is Here, curated by Jacqueline Francis and Kathy Zarur, evokes the real and conceptual space through which we travel. The exhibition presents the works of contemporary artists who are developing personal and engaged visual and musical systems to claim, make, and describe space. The imagery is both straightforward and poetic. The represented body stands off-stage in this exhibition. The terrain of Where Is Here is international in its scope. For several of the exhibiting artists, the San Francisco Bay Area's changing landscape and the politics around it are pressing concerns that they address in their projects. The artists participating in Where Is Here are: Asya Abdrahman, La Vaughn Belle, Allan deSouza, Broun Fellinis, Christopher Cozier, Thierry Fontaine, David Huffman, Olalekan Jeyifous, Adia Millett, Ingrid Pollard. Exhibition Dates: October 26, 2016 - April 2, 2017.
ABOUT 3.9 ART COLLECTIVE Formed just prior to the 2010 census, 3.9 Art Collective took its name from a report in The San Francisco Bay View, a weekly newspaper that predicted that the city’s black population would decrease dramatically—to 3.9 percent of the total population. While the number of black San Franciscans has not fallen to this level, there has been a black migration out of San Francisco, driven by wave after wave of gentrification, stubborn social inequities, and the under resourcing of minority communities. 3.9 Art Collective has adopted this statistic as an act of resistance and a commitment to the ideals and narratives of a diverse San Francisco. The 3.9 Art Collective’s mission is to create and claim space to display their work; to nurture young artists; to develop educational programs for students; and to write about and curate exhibitions meant to generate productive, crosscultural dialogues. http://threepointninecollective.com
ROOT DIVISION STAFF Michelle Mansour Executive Director Amy Cancelmo Arts Program Director Lindsay Ellen Howland Education Programs Manager Brooke Westfall Communications & Development Manager Susa Cortez Outreach & Programs Assistant Celeste Christie Bookkeeper Office Assistant Eliza Dennis Development Assistant
CATALOGUE DESIGN: Sarah Kim DESIGN ASSISTANCE: Brooke Westfall Colleen Fujimori EXHIBITION DOCUMENTATION: Mido Lee Productions
ABOUT ROOT DIVISION Root Division is a visual arts non-profit that connects creativity and community through a dynamic ecosystem of arts education, exhibitions, and studios. Our mission is to empower artists, foster community service, inspire youth, and enrich the Bay Area through engagement in the visual arts. Root Division is a launching pad for artists, a stepping stone for educators, a door to creativity for youth, and a bridge for the public to become involved in the arts.
SUPPORTERS Root Division is supported in part by a plethora of individual donors and by grants from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Bloomberg Philanthropies, San Francisco Arts Commission: Community Investments, Grants for the Arts, Walter and Elise Haas Fund, Kimball Foundation, Winifred Johnson Clive Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, Drusie Davis Family Fund, Adobe Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Fleishhacker Foundation, and Art4Moore.
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