#destineeross

[bellus-spiritus]

@FordFoundationGallery “#RadicalLove” 2nd in a trilogy of exhibitions curated by @Jaishri.Abichandani @Natasha.Becker. The theme of #UtopianImagination, the 3 exhibitions in the gallery's inaugural year create a trajectory toward a more just future. The 1st #PerilousBodies examined #injustice through the intersecting lens of violence, race, gender, ethnicity & class. #RadicalLove responds by offering #love as the answer to a world in peril. Love defined by a commitment to the spiritual growth & interconnectedness of the individual, their community & stewardship of the planet. Guided by the powerful words of bell hooks, “Were we all seeing more images of loving human interaction, it would undoubtedly have a positive impact on our lives.” The works are grounded in ideas of devotion, abundance & beauty; here, otherness & marginality is celebrated, adorned & revered, that is deeply rooted in their love for their own communities & of humanity & demonstrate that when the world deems your existence unworthy, casting yourself as a subject is an act of radical love. Understanding the regenerative impact of this love, their work is an antidote to our collective pain. Employing everything in their arsenal, the 23 international artists created enchanting works that transform disabled, black, brown, indigenous & queer subjects into protagonists of new narratives of love & redemption, transforming the gallery into a space of visual lushness & opulence, one that envelopes the viewer in a sense of love, protection, power & unity,” says Lisa Kim, the gallery’s director. “Their work seeks to bring to life images of love, joy, pain, grace, and glory — experiences we’ve all felt at times in our own lives.” “Memorial” by La Vaughn Belle & Jeannette Ehlers honoring Mary Thomas, one of the women who led the 1878 rebellion of plantation workers in St. Croix Bradley McCallum & #JacquelineTarry’s “The Evidence of Things Not Seen,” layered portraits honoring protesters arrested during & after the January 1956 Montgomery Bus Boycotts. #artlovers #artcollectors #artcurators #artadvisory #DestineeRoss #JoakimvonDitmar #representationmatters #womeninthearts #queer #lgbt #blackness (at Ford Foundation) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByniXbtlfIk/?igshid=3p34dsmi1t7f

[bellus-spiritus]

Also at @sothebys #ContemporaryCurated #artauction today #HenryTaylor’s “FF, FRENCH FRIEND”, 2016 Estimated $25k-35k SOLD $87,500 acrylic on canvas  18 x 18 in. (45.7 by 45.7cm) If you haven’t seen Henry’s solo exhibition at @blumandpoe in NY you MUST ! See my previous 2 posts for images. Consistent with Taylor’s oeuvre, these new paintings weave together visual references spanning contemporary politics, American social adversity, and the faces of his milieu articulated through the language of portraiture. However, this latest series includes many works created during Henry’s recent travels in #Senegal, when #DestineeRoss @desti.knee and a large group of friends were together for #KehindeWiley’s inauguration of his #BlackRockSenegal, compositions hatched from contemplations on the #AfricanDiaspora, #colonialism, #slavery, the odds of diverging routes of struggle, and also on unity and seeing oneself in the face of a stranger.  In the same way Taylor has depicted #AfricanAmerican sports stars, icons of #BlackHistory, or the patients of a state mental hospital, in this new series the artist captures an essence in his subjects that is both universal & exposes something of Taylor’s own emotional depth & personal storyline. As Zadie Smith wrote in 2018: “This is painting that goes way beyond the brute fact of a body. Other people look; Taylor sees. He puts himself in the way of people.” Each painting is another piece in an ever-growing visual collage reflecting a cultural community to which Taylor belongs, images that remain thinly veiled psychic snapshots of the artist’s path to mapping his own identity and the splintering fragments of a collective identity. #portraiture #blackness #blackportraiture #blackexcellence #africa #africanamerican #blackart #contemporaryblackart #blumandpoe #blackbeauty #blackgirlmagic #artlovers #artcollectors #artcurators #artadvisory #artmuse #destineeross @desti.knee & #joakimvonditmar (at Sotheby's) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2495bKFjmC/?igshid=1e0trobs709x7

[bellus-spiritus]

#wcw #BIRTHDAYweek for @desti.knee #DestineeRoss #melaninpoppin at my parents house in Salzburg, Austria 🇦🇹 ✨#leoseason 🦁 #blackgirlmagic #braids #flowers 🌸 #naturalbeauty #birthdaygirl #artmuse #muse #beauty #blackwomeninthearts #blackwomenintheartsdoitbetter #artlovers #artcollectors #artadvisors #blessed #salzburg #austria #österreich #ebenau (at Salzburg, Austria) https://www.instagram.com/p/B04XHf6FW26/?igshid=1qmpyftbh68ca

[bellus-spiritus]

#DestineeRoss @desti.knee striking a pose next to her former Alma Mater @steinerschoolny colleague Vita Kurland @athugcalledsnug’s work “Positive History”, 2017-2019 @levygorvy in their annual “In House - Artists Who Work at Lévy Gorvy” exhibition. • #artlovers #artcurators #artmuse #artadvisor #artadvisory #destineeross @desti.knee & #joakimvonditmar #blackgirlmagic #blackbeauty #melanin #harlemgirl #braids #lavenderhair #blackness #representationmatters #blackwomenintheartsdoitbetter #artlife #artselfie #VitaKurland #levygorvy #womeninthearts #femaleartist #artivism #blackhistory #blackness #contemporaryart #blackexcellence (at Lévy Gorvy) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0wOAY7HFZM/?igshid=hzw6fh9mkia9