Museum Press Room
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE KINDRED BLACKNESS MUSEUM DEBUTS NEW EXHIBITION
ARTOGRAPHY: BLACK ART LIT DATA COMMUNITY ARCHIVING
December 2023---ARTOGRAPHY: Black Art Lit Community Archiving (2023) is an extraordinary futuristic exhibition that showcases the exceptional talent of African American artists who were born or adopted as residents of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - reimagined through the lens of autoethnography, data as narrative, and artificial intelligence. The exhibition will debut online on February 1, 2024, at the Kindred Blackness Museum.
The artwork combines visual and literary art in a mixed-media data story approach, highlighting each artist's unique experiences in community archiving of Black history. The exhibition curator, through an autoethnographic lens, researched community archiving practices that have taken place through these works during eras of Black history in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ARTOGRAPHY as an exhibition is presented as a fictional data narrative told through the lens of 24-year-old LeRoy Malik Locke who lives in Iaville, Philadelphia.The Definition | The Methodology
"Artography"
According to scholar, Rita L. Irwin (2022), A/r/tography is the practice of exploring the world through a continuous process of creating art and writing. The two mediums are interconnected, weaving together to create enhanced meanings. A/r/tographical work is guided by concepts such as living inquiry, metaphor/metonymy, and excess, embodied in the exchanges between art and text. While a/r/tography is about self-expression, it is also social. Groups of a/r/tographers come together to engage in shared inquiries and present their collective works to others.
Reimagined Artwork in Exhibition Data Narrative
Without a doubt, this outstanding assemblage of reimagined AI artwork, artographrapy, and literature by emerging artists from the Iaville, Philadelphia, unequivocally attests to the exceptional talent and skill of African-American artists renowned artists such as Alain LeRoy Locke, Howardena Pindell, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Ellen Powell Tiberino, Syd Carpenter, Moses Williams, Nanette Acker Clark, Frances Harper, Jessie Fauset, Kristen Hunter, Loren Carey, Mae V. Cowdry, Sonia Sanchez, and Alice Dunbar Nelson.
The Curator
Alain LeRoy Locke, a prominent American writer, philosopher, educator, and patron of the arts, received recognition as the first African-American Rhodes Scholar in 1907. Notably, Locke's contributions to the Harlem Renaissance as the philosophical architect and the "Dean" have left a lasting impact on American literature and culture. Locke's expertise in philosophy and literature enabled him to inspire an entire generation of African-American writers and artists, encouraging them to embrace their cultural heritage and challenge the status quo. Locke's legacy as a trailblazing visionary continues to inspire scholars and artists alike to this day.
The exhibition is sponsored by The Kindred Blackness Museum, ART LIT DATA, The Creative CoLab, and the 2023 LEAD Fellows Program at Drexel University in conjunction with Temple University Libraries. The reimagined exhibition is available online from February 1, 2024, through September 7, 2024, and is not to be missed.
Artist Statements
Malik LeRoy Locke, Community Archivist, I am Malik LeRoy Locke, an African American writer, archivist, poet, and digital storyteller from Iaville, Philadelphia. As a graduate of Henry Ossawa Tanner Visual Arts University, I use my unique artistic vision to explore themes of history and culture, often highlighting the African American experience. Along with numerous exhibitions of my work, I have been fortunate enough to join the permanent collection of the Kindred Blackness Museum as a digital community curator. Through my work, I hope to continue to collect, share, and highlight stories of black excellence, as I aim to help preserve the richness of African American history.
Nathaniel K. Brown, Visual Artist, As an African American professional artist and photographer from Harlem, New York, I proudly present my work as a featured artist in the Kindred Blackness Museum's first exhibition: ARTOGRAPHY. I am a graduate of the Basquiat School of Fine Arts, in Brooklyn, New York. My intent with this new project is to capture the unique beauty of African Americans through imagery while inspiring the same sense of pride within the community in Iaville, Philadelphia. This new art is an irreplaceable opportunity to inspire, grow, and learn more about the beauty of an All-Black city and its history, future, and culture.
Violet Eliza Jackson, Visual Artist, I am Violet Eliza Jackson, an African American Visual Artist from Iaville, Philadelphia. As an Emerging Artist, I am a recent Graduate of Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller Art University, specializing in African-American Origin artwork. I am pleased to be included in the first museum collection at the Kindred Blackness Museum in Iaville, Philadelphia. This Featured Exhibition, ARTOGRAPHY, showcases my work to both the local and national community, and I am hopeful it will bring about a dialogue about the preservation of our community's history. Art holds the power to share stories, evoke emotion, and build a community, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to display my artwork and be part of something bigger.
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Contact Information:
Alain LeRoy Locke
Chief Curator and Archivist
The Kindred Blackness Museum, Project
Phone: 215-435-0017
Email: blackart@kindredblacknessmuseum
URL: http://bit.ly/thekindredblacknessmuseum