Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour 2023

"Art is Business" www.bronzevilleartdistrict.com    Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour 2023 

 

CULTURAL STAKEHOLDERS IN THE BRONZEVILLE COMMUNITY COLLABORATE TO PRESENT FREE SUMMER PROGRAMMING 

CHICAGO  – Bronzeville is again a focal point for Chicago's vibrant African American culture. Like Harlem in New York, Bronzeville is a community where Chicago's African American music, Literature, Fine Art, and Theater historically thrive. The Bronzeville Art District (BAD) currently consists of five established visual art spaces working together to focus and drive cultural activities in the community so that a distinctive cultural identity can be crystallized and communicated. 

About this event

Please join us on the 3rd Friday of the month for the Bronzeville Art District (BAD) Trolley Tour 2022! Bronzeville Art District Celebrating 17 years, Every 3rd Friday between June and September, ride the Double-Decker Bus for fine art and entertainment in Bronzeville!

Ride the Double-Decker bus that will take you to the 5 participating art galleries and art institutions in Bronzeville. Featuring some of the best fine art and entertainment in the city of Chicago. Free and Fun for the entire family! Please share with your art friends and family.

2023 Summer Tour Schedule and Participating Bronzeville Locations:

June 16, July 21, August 18, September 15, 6 pm to 9pm

You can visit galleries, art institutions, or studios and experience unique art and entertainment.

Blanc Gallery

Bronzeville Artist Lofts

Gallery Guichard

Faie Afrikan Art

South Side Community Art Center

We look forward to seeing you for the 2023 Art Tour Season!
Sponsored by
The University of Illinois Cancer Center
Gift of Hope
Blue Cross Blue Shield
CIBC Bank
Building Community Foundation
Bronzeville Art District

From Bronzeville to Beverly: One Artist’s Black History Inspiration

"Art is Business"  reposted an original article by Kristin Boza

Rhonda Hardy’s parents were born in Louisiana. As children, their families were part of the Great Migration, the historic movement of an estimated six million African Americans from the South to urban areas in the Midwest, Northeast, and West. Many African Americans who came to Chicago from the South, including Hardy’s grandparents and parents, settled in Bronzeville.  

Hardy’s rich family history inspires her art. The Bronzeville Babies series is focused on historical clothing and styles, and Urban Comforts is a textile line influenced by African stamps and motifs. 

“When I was growing up, I listened to the stories told by my parents, grandparents, and aunts,” Hardy said. “I internalized all of the stories about who they came up with during the Great Migration, what they did when they got here, and where they worked. It was a natural progression for me as I got older to begin doing more research on African American history.” 

Hardy began her journey at what is now known as the DuSable Museum of African American History, which at the time was The Ebony Museum of Negro History and Art located in curator/artist/educator/writer/activist Margaret Taylor Burroughs’ home on the South Side.  

As a student at Southern Illinois University, Hardy earned a bachelor’s degree in clothing and textiles and a master’s in African and African American culture. Her master’s thesis focused on the designs of African fabrics and clothing styles of African Americans.  

“I documented what was worn by the slaves, by people during the Reconstruction period, and the styles worn during the Black empowerment movement of the 1960s,” Hardy said. She eventually began working for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Extension campus conducting outreach in predominantly Black neighborhoods in Chicago.  

After retirement, Hardy was able to focus once again on her art and fashion. A Beverly/Morgan Park resident, Hardy remains very connected to the Bronzeville neighborhood. As a re-emerging artist, she created a series of soft-sculpted dolls commemorating the Great Migration for a Bronzeville exhibit.  

“I have eight different dolls in my line and they each have their own name and story,” Hardy said. “With my fashion background, I’ve been able to make patterns and clothing for the dolls that help tell their story. All of the clothing is as authentic as possible; the biggest challenge is finding the right fabrics worn during the doll’s time period. The dolls and their clothing make a statement about where they were and what they were thinking during a period in our history.” 

The Pullman Porter doll wears an authentic replica of the Pullman Porter uniform. Hardy used the doll during an artist-in-residence program at The Nautilus School, 1917 W. 93rd St., to teach the history of Pullman. 

The Urban Comforts line consists of tea towels, wall hangings, pillows, and tablecloths made from African-inspired prints designed by Hardy and created through a stamp printing process.  

Hardy’s work inspires others to share their stories. “I participated in a few Beverly Art Walks and people would see my work and just start talking about their own communities and where their family was from,” she said. “We’re all grounded in history, and we have our own story that makes up who we are as a person.” 

Hardy’s work can currently be found at Made Artisan Collaborative, 1802 W. 103rd St., or online at RhondaHardyDesigns.com. 

The Ocean Between IV Virtual Open Studio

"Art is Business"

ZOOM Phantom Gallery:
https://bit.ly/PhantomGalleryChicago,

Open virtual studio visit with artist Lashon Fouche of the Wild Yams Col...

ARTIST. WRITER. EDUCATOR.

Venise Keys is a visual artist, writer, and educator raised on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. Venise's art has been exhibited throughout Chicago at The Cre.ea.tive Room, the Museum Science, and Industry, KaLab Gallery, +Plus Gallery, Woman Made Gallery, and Intersect Chicago (formally known as SOFA: Sculpture, Objects, and Functional Art & Design Fair). She also exhibited at Front Room Gallery in Brooklyn, New York, and the Saint Louis Museum of Art in Saint Louis, Missouri.

She has a Bachelors's and Master's degree in Painting with a Certificate in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies for her research on Black Feminist politics. She served as adjunct faculty of art for Illinois Central College, Bradley University, and has lectured at Dillard University on the role of the Black artist. This work is published in the scholarly journal, Kalfou: Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies.

This year, Venise's writing on art education has circulated to Norway, Germany and she is recently published in a New York arts and culture magazine, Hyperallergic. Venise is currently an artist-in-residence at Wild Yams: A Residency for Black Women & Mothers located in The Cre.ea.tive Room. Venise teaches high school visual art at Art In Motion Creative Arts School and is the program director for the Kappa Chapter of Gamma Xi Phi Professional Art Fraternity.

What is the Lashon Fouché method to holistic arts education?

Increased self-esteem by abandoning perfectionism and imposter syndrome habits about art-making.

Developing intentional creative routines to use observations, emotions, meditations, and daily life dreams in the artwork.

Offering consultations/programming collaborations to promote alternative expressions of knowledge and socially responsible activism.

COLAB 7100 + Wild Yam = Collaboration

"Art is Business" https://www.blogtalkradio.com/phantomgallerychicago/2021/09/07/creative-conversation-a-talk-with-curator-mercy-baty-part-2

 CURATORIAL PRACTICE ABOUT THE CURATOR:

Wisdom Baty is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist and arts collaborator interested in curating space for black and brown mothers and their children. With over a decade of community organizing, her practice reimagines physical space, autonomy, and historical accuracy in support of black motherhood through the lens of intersectionality. She is the founder and creative director of Wild Yams: Black Mothers Artist Residency.

An artistic collaborator, Wisdom has co-organized 6018N Windows to the World exhibition 2020, the inaugural  Black Experience: Panel and MFA Showcase at SAIC Sullivan Galleries in 2015, and The Black Family Reunion 2017 with Threewalls and Reunion. In addition, Baty was a 2017 Marwen Teaching Artist Resident, a 2007 fellow at the Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art and Music, participated in the Museum of Contemporary Art Teacher Institute, and currently has work represented on the Field Foundations website under the program areas section. Baty received her BFA in Painting at UIC’s School of Art and Design in 2012 and a Masters's degree in Arts Administration and Policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2018.

"No other creative field is as closed to those who are not white and male as is the visual arts... the first thing that I had to believe was that I, a black woman, could penetrate the art scene, and that, further, I could do so without sacrificing one iota of my blackness or my femaleness or my humanity." 

- Faith Ringgold 

For more information, contact:

Wisdom Baty

M: 773.815.2419

Director of Development and Community Relations  at COLAB 7100

Bronzeville Art District Art Tour,

"Art is Business"

Hello and Welcome:

We look forward to you joining us for the July Art Tour this evening. Please read carefully to ensure you have all the information regarding the tour, virtual or in person. 

Due to COVID 19, there will not be a trolley this year.  Check opening times below:

To visit the virtual Bronzeville Art District Art Tour, use the links provided here. Opens on Zoom at 7:00 CST pm and in-person at participating venues. Check the times below.
 
Gallery Guichard: Virtual and In-person

https://bit.ly/galleryguichardarttourJuly

Webinar ID: 821 1588 2807

International numbers available: International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcL0XfIErZ

Fair Afrikan Art: Virtual and In-person https:us02web.zoom.us/j/87320093471?

Meeting ID 873 2009 3471

Passcode 698508

Blanc Gallery: Virtual and In-person https://bit.ly/BLANC_JULY
South Side Community Art Center: Virtual Only

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89008105934?pwd=TTBRdWRNZUh5RU9tQU1FUUx0QmpzUT09

Meeting ID: 998 0571 5631 Passcode: 098588

Bronzeville Artist Lofts - Virtual 
Phantom Gallery: https://bit.ly/PhantomGalleryChicago

Raymond Thomas Studio: https://bit.ly/ThomasStudios_Tour
Allen Emerson Hicks:

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87803862154?pwd=QUltVUdvYmpKaHBnL3FpditwbmlwUT09

Meeting ID: 878 0386 2154

Passcode: 065227

You can also copy and place it in your browser to search for the event.

 In-Person Experience: You can experience the tour in person at the following galleries:

• Blanc Gallery - in person and virtual 6 pm to 8 pm
• Gallery Guichard - in person and virtual 7 pm to 10 pm
• Faie Afrikan Art Gallery - in person and virtual 6 pm to 8 pm
• Bronzeville Artist Lofts - Virtual & in the Great Migration Sculpture Garden providing a video screening (Studios are not open)

Virtual Only:

South Side Community Art Center - Virtual only

Featured Artist Dionne Victoria: Divine Healing Art is my freedom movement.

"Art is Business" A word from Dionne Victoria

Dionne Victoria at the South Side Community Art Center

The Artist: Dionne Victoria I wanted to create art without restrictions. I am so used to making beautiful art that was just “right”. Divine Healing Art is my freedom movement. It’s about my healing from the trauma of giving birth. It’s about my connection to the Infinite Intelligence as I allow these creations to flow from me. 

Bio: Dionne Victoria is a Chicago artist whose artwork is a meditative tool to heal and express the internal landscape of the soul in an external world. Her artwork can be viewed nationally and she has exhibited internationally. Dionne Victoria has exhibited in the United States Congress Library for a year as well as in the Museum of Science and Industry on numerous occasions. Currently, her art can be viewed at the Zhou B Art Center where her studio is located. She traveled to South Korea where she taught English, using art. While there, she started art as a therapy group with other international teachers suffering from culture shock.

 Once returning back to the states she started volunteering at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center doing art as therapy with young men who were in the middle of determination. As her love of science grew she began developing a science-arts integration curriculum while teaching at SkyArt, Northwestern University Center for Talent and Development as well as her at own art studio, Dionne Victoria Studios, INC.

She began curating under Tye Johnson Artistry but branched off to create her own community-based organization the Butterfly Community which focuses on change through the three E’s education, exhibitions, and entrepreneurship. Securing her Masters in Teaching from the University of Chicago opened the door to working with teens on a more in-depth scale. She began partnering with the University of Chicago’s Art Incubator teaching the skills necessary to operate an arts organization.

She is a Field/WORK resident at the Chicago Artist Coalition where she is working to hone her art business skills while expanding her network of artists. She is also in the Bridge Program at the Hyde Park Art Center. Dionne partners with the South Side Community Art Center to offer art as therapy to adults and science-art education to children. She helped to found the Sister Circle of the South Side, a sisterhood devoted to the empowerment of those who take part in it and started Dinner with Dionne, an open invitation to meditation and dinner.

Schedule: 
September 20th, 5pm pre-boarding VIP meet the artist, 
Bronzeville Art District 3rd Friday Trolley Tours begin at 6pm - 9pm 
October  6, 2019, 3-6pm, Sunday Salon Series  "Dinner with Dionne, an Open Invitation to Meditation and Dine." RSVP limited seating. 
October 11th 6-9pm, Closing  

National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) - Community Curation in Chicago! at DuSable Museum

"Art is Business"

The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is coming to Chicago September 7 – September 28, 2019! Join the Black Metropolis Research Consortium and its member institutions: the DuSable Museum of African American History, Shorefront Legacy Center, Chicago State University, and the Woodson Regional Library for Community Curation in Chicago!

The Community Curation Program connects African American communities across generations by preserving our history and sharing stories, photos, and videos to the Museum’s online community collection. DuSable Museum's VIP Erica Griffin, Director of Education and Public Programs, has contributed her family's photographs and stories---What will you share?

Throughout the month, NMAAHC and its collaborators will provide free digitization sessions and host a series of workshops and programs on topics ranging from the history of Chicago house music to the basics of conducting genealogical research across the Chicagoland area.  The program aims to encourage the preservation and intergenerational story-telling throughout the African American community.

If you are in the Chicago area, we invite you to bring your personal photographs, documents, and audiovisual materials to our events where our experts will digitize them for you. After your items have been digitized, you will receive a USB drive containing digital copies of your collections.

On select dates listed below at the DuSable Museum, NMAAHC staff can digitize a range of items— from your great-grandmother’s high school diploma to photos from your sorority chapter’s annual gala to the videotape of your family reunion. At the end of the hour-long session, we will provide a USB flash drive with digital copies of your collections.

Community Curation in Chicago-Events at DuSable Museum of African American History:

Still Image Digitization (Photos and Documents)
Location: DuSable Museum of African American History
Dates: September 7-20, 2019-Tuesday-Saturday 9am-5pm

Click here to Register

--

Moving Images and Sound Digitization (video and audio only)
Location: DuSable Museum of African American History
Dates: September 7-10:30am-12:15pm OR 1:15pm-3:15pm

Click here to Register

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Digitizing Black Narratives featuring Angela Ford of the Obsidian Collection in conversation with Maudlyne Ihejirika of the Chicago Sun-Times
Location: DuSable Museum, Ames Auditorium
Date: September 14, 2019-10am-12pm

Click here to Register


Community Curation in Chicago is being held in collaboration with: National Museum of African American History and Culture | DuSable Museum of African American |  Chicago Public Library-Woodson Regional Library | Chicago State University-Gwendolyn Brooks Library |  Shorefront Legacy Center | For more information on upcoming events across the city please access the link here

The DuSable Museum of African American History is proud to be a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate.

Skyla S. Hearn, MLIS
Chief Archivist and Special Collections Librarian
DuSable Museum of African American History
740 East 56th Place
Chicago, Illinois 60637
Phone: (773) 947-0600 Ext. 247
shearn@dusablemuseum.org

"I like to think that my work has a universality to it. I deal with love, hope, courage, freedom, dignity---the full gamut of the human spirit. When I work, though, I think of my own people. That's only natural. However, my philosophy doesn't exclude any nation or race of people." ---Charles White

Intuitive Space Lois Stone

"Art is Business"  Project Description- for gallery hours call 773-681-6570

Network

presents new works by artist Lois Stone 

Friday, August 16, 2019

Pre-boarding Viewing 5pm -6pm, Boarding 6-9pm 

440 E. 47th Street, Chicago IL  60653

Green Abstract, 12" x 12", 2019 Lois Stone

Artist Lois Stone

Intuitive Space

Intuitive Space is a collection of abstract paintings I have created in an exploration of mark-making. Decided or automatic expressions, marks are created in a push and pull manner with spontaneous movement and expression to discover, free, and reveal my own creativity. Through this process, I hope to evoke that same joy of the process to the viewer.

Untitled Abstract, Lois Stone

September 8th, 2019  3-6pm, Sunday Salon Series

September 13th, Closing 6pm - 9pm

Untitled Abstract, Lois Stone


Join us for the August 16th, 2019 Trolley Tour, during the Bronzeville Art District 3rd Friday Open Studio at the

Lunar Cycle Contemporary Interior Environments, Abstracted and the Observations

"Art is Business" Phil Cotton

Dinosaur Moon, 2017, Oil Pastel Collage

Lunar Cycle Contemporary Interior 

Environments Abstracted and Observations by Phil Cotton

Artist Statement 2019

Although the images and subjects of my artwork are diverse; the influences and subject matter originate from the 1950’s era, abstract expressionist movement and architectural/ designs of the Mid Century Modern/ Bauhaus periods. My contemporary artwork consists of organic and architectural visual images that respond to my observations of historical moments in time and the present state of our ever-changing complex society.

Fran Asleep with Blanket, 2019 Charcoal and Pencil

As a former student of Design and the Fine Arts, my aesthetic influences are both rooted in contemporary architecture, visual design and the plastic arts – painting, sculpture, and drawings. These influences speak to me in different ways and in multiple manifestations in my art practice. That is to say, I am not limited or restricted in my creative approach to my subject but open to multiple influences, individually and collectively. Simply put, I am a multimedia artist whose practice involves the creation of abstract images that are influenced by transitional forms in nature and society.

The Moon at Rest, 2019 Charcoal Pencil

My current artwork for the last six months has consisted of medium to large charcoal drawings. Most of the work involves the spacial relationships, tonal values, and observations of contemporary interior environments, abstracted and the observations on how in some works, the lunar cycle might influence our lives. 

GAllery Monk 2019 Charcoal Pencil

Also, the musical influence of Jazz and its’ many historical practitioners, has a seat at my concept table. I use Jazz metaphors to” layer “my abstract images and to give respect to some of our past and present great musicians of note.  These abstracted images take place during various times of the day and night; responding to one’s own imagination about how place, sound and time can have an extraordinary effect on our understanding of who we are.

The Moral Clock 2015, Oil Pastel Collage

Closing Reception for Experimentalism during Bronzeville Summer Nights After Dark

"Art is Business" Closing reception August 9, 2019

Opening July 19th, BAD Trolley Tour 2019 at the Bronzeville Artist Lofts Open Studio

Join us for our closing reception of Experimentalism, Friday, August 9th, 2019 during the Bronzeville Summer Nights After Dark, 2nd Friday Trolley Tours SSA take over of  47th Street Business District - from 47th and King Dr. to 47th and Cottage Grove. 

Evening projections on the Bronzeville Artist Lofts outdoor deck by L.K. Akiremi, conversation, and artist discussions BYOB. 

Featured artist, Experimentalism- 2019. L.K. Akiremi, Cesar Conde and LaDiPo Famodu. 

FEATURING  THE WORKS OF   Phantom Gallery Chicago 

Network artists.  

Artwork, small work on display and for purchase $150 and under, or make an offer for larger work on display."ART ON FIRE SALE" from the collection:

Renee Baker- small works 

Alpha Bruton - acrylic on paper

Elaine Crossley - original canvas archival

Kortez - small prints

Makeba Kedeem DuBois- original

Mariana Buchwald - IAG 

Hans U. Buchwald- prints

Shonna McDaniels - prints

William G. Hill - photography prints

"ART FIRE SALE" of various prints donation $5 - $10-$15-$20. 

Grab a bag and see what you have purchased your guess is as good as mines. All donations go to the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network. 

Larissa J. Akinremi Uses Nature as an Experiment to Showcase the Black Body in Outdoor Landscapes.

 "Art is Business" BlogTalkRadio Interview with artist Larissa J. Akinremi.

Headshot of Larissa J. Akinremi 

Artist Statement 

The daughter of creative visionaries activist Bobbie Johnson and Zaid A. Maalikulmulk, 80s club kid and social curator Larissa Johnson-Akinremi (b. Baltimore, MD, 1969) began her career jewelry designer in the early 1990s after college and years later as a freelance make-up artist and fashion stylist. In 2000 she became the host, promoter, and nightlife social curator for Deep House Page, Chicago's premier source for music entertainment and dance culture. Now her focus is on photography and curation. She is inspired by nature, people, social interaction, music, and dance culture. In addition, she enjoys the surreal and spiritual realm, and some of her work encompasses those forms. Larissa's process includes photography of the human condition, a play on light and body movement, spoken word, animation, video, and performance art. In her spare time and upon request, she is also a DJ. Johnson's first solo exhibition, People, Places, and Things, took place in 2015 at Tangible Things. Her work was most recently featured at Beats and Treats, a solo exhibition at Chicago's Bronzeville Room 43, which featured local artists. 

 

For the One

Dancer: Sadira Muhammad

Media: Digital print on canvas, 2017

20 X 16

The One is a Universal term for Allah; God, 

Tetragrammaton, Jehovah, Yahweh, Father, Abba, or The Light.

The dancer moves with a finger pointing upwards. 

This is symbolic of The One.

The photo was taken at Gele Day, an annual event hosted by Pilar Awodola Songofemi Audain-Reed at 63rd Street Beach.

Night Moves

Media: Digital print on canvas, 2016

20 X 16

Night Moves features dancer Cat Mahari in an evening dance at Foster Street Beach.

Black Seeds in the Garden

Media: Digital print on canvas, 2013

12 X 8

A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering. To a Black mother, her children and sons are her seeds. She nurtures, covers love, and protects them from seeing them bloom. The photo was taken at Garfield Park Conservatory.

A Dance for Mother and Child

Media: Digital print on canvas, 2017

12 X 12

When I was a little girl, I used to dance with my mother. It was the closest thing to God. This picture holds so many memories, and I am glad I caught it. The photo was taken at Gele Day, an annual event hosted by Pilar. Awodola Songofemi Audain-Reed at 63rd Street Beach.

Protect Our Children

Media: Digital print on canvas

12 X 8

Often times our children are shot and killed in the streets while going to school, running an errand, playing in front of the house, or just playing basketball.

I was sitting in the community park at Reavis Math and Science Academy and captured these young men playing basketball ball and couldn't help but notice the caption on the mural "Protect Our Children."

Lotus

Media: Digital print on canvas, 2016

12 X 12

Lotus Love is a Healer specializing in Reiki, life coaching, massage therapy, and crystal energy healing. The photo was taken along the beach shoreline at 67^th South Shore Drive.

In 2016,  Ms. Johnson’s work was featured in a group exhibition; Continuous Span at the Hyde Park Center and her along with other collaborating curators facilitated the exhibition Taking Shapes at the Hyde Park Art Center. 

Her photography was selected to appear in Connect Gallery Hyde 2017 and Connect Gallery South Shore in the fall of 2018, a weekend Showcase of local Chicago artists hosted by the Silver Room's Pop-Up Gallery. Larissa Johnson lives and works in Chicago and is the curator for Sounding Bronzeville, a gathering space along the Burnham Wildlife Corridor, south lakefront region. She is also the promoter and creative director for Universal Dance Music. She also served as the coordinator for The Great Migration Centennial and Bronzeville Community Development Partnership and assisted in special projects with the Bronzeville Visitors Association. Ms. Johnson is the president of Race to Knowledge and Beyond, successor to her late mother's organization Race to Knowledge, and founder of "the social movement."  

Larissa is the Creative and Promotions Director for "Universal Dance Music," as well as other collaborative projects with Chicago artists, historians, and creatives. In addition, she received her Visual Arts Certification from the University of Chicago Graham School and Hyde Park Art Center in 2017.

“EXPERIMENTALISM” Process artist LaDiPo Famodu Astro Afro Studio

"Art is Business" Bio Short  Ladipo Famodu is a researcher, artist, and futurist, and creator of Astro Afro Studio.

LaDiPo standing in front of the mural by Statik on 47th Street, 600 blocks on the side of a Bronzeville barbara Shop

Astro Afro Studio is a design practice that addresses the present and future threats to social equality and environmental sustainability by weaponizing art, design, and technology in a creative, subversive manner. Based in Chicago, the city is used as a classroom and laboratory, providing an opportunity to observe, explore, and collaborate.

Interview on BlogTalkRadio Creative Conversation:
The specific question I want to press is what are some ways we define "Experimental-ism", while we examine the state of our environment?

LaDiPo has thought critically about experimentalism in his art practice and what that means. 

LaDiPo was asked the question, EXPERIMENTALISM is largely centered on the human experience. Universal education was the key to teaching people how to abandon their habits and think creatively. 

His response: 

Experimentalism to me represents the process of learning by doing - a pedagogy I apply to both my scientific work and artistic practice. As a materials researcher, I am eager to find the potential in products deemed as waste to other industries and incorporate them into the concrete. As an artist, I’ve discovered my own personal style in creating abstract-yet-human-like wire figures. Through exaggerated gestures, these figures greet each other and activate every object they encounter. 

WIRE! Figure It Out"  by LaDiPo

Bio Long Ladipo Famodu 

As a researcher, he studies the future of concrete as a building material at a Chicago-based concrete company. His role is to analyze industrial byproducts for fitness as an alternative to cement which is the binder in concrete. His background in chemistry has equipped him to quickly learn new testing procedures and reference existing literature regarding sustainable material research.

As an artist, his work is a commentary on a neighborhood in flux. He currently resides in Bronzeville, once known as the Black Metropolis. After a period of disinvestment, a wave of new construction is underway with massive single-family houses seeming to pop up overnight. Using collage, he constructs architectural imagery that references the rich history and speculative future of the Black Metropolis.

As a futurist, his mantra is to Never Stop Learning. Outside of work, you may find him at book signings, artists talks, and public lectures covering topics from sustainable construction to algorithmic bias. He is inspired by those who bring together ideas from different fields of study to reframe big problems in today’s society. 

Experimental-ism- Three Chicago Artists Present: Painting, Photography, Process

"Art is Business"  “EXPERIMENTALISM” Painting Photography and Process

New Works by artist

L. K. Akinremi, Cesar Conde, LaDiPo Famodu,

July 19, 2019 - August 9th, 2019

Opening July 19th, 5pm 

Join us on BlogTalkRadio "Creative Conversation" for a candid conversation with three Chicago artists each presenting critical thought and expressing experimentalism in their artwork. 

The specific question I want to press is what are some ways we define "Experimental-ism", while we exam the state of our environment? Each has thought critically about experimentalism in their art practice and what that means. 

Call in to speak with the host at (760) 888-5766

 “EXPERIMENTALISM” 
Painting Photography and Process

Photography @Larissa Kim Akinremi 

 July16th, 11am Part 1
In Physics, the black body is defined as an object that absorbs all electromagnetic radiation that falls into it. It can radiate any wavelength of energy. In America and around the world, the Black Body is a vessel of beauty and wonderment. It is magnetic. It has been sold, is for sale, is revered, sought after, despised, copied, and used as a source of entertainment and pleasure. The Black Body is perceived differently through the lens when emotion is evoked; through speech, anger, happiness and through triumphant times. Larissa Kim Akinremi uses nature as an experiment to showcase the Black Body in outdoor landscapes.

Creating Abstract-yet-Human-like Wire Figures @ LaDiPo

July 23rd 11am, Part 2
Experimentalism to me represents the process of learning by doing - a pedagogy I apply to both my scientific work and artistic practice. As a materials researcher, I am eager to find the potential in products deemed as waste to other industries and incorporate them into the concrete. As an artist, I’ve discovered my own personal style in creating abstract-yet-human-like wire figures. Through exaggerated gestures, these figures greet each other and activate every object they encounter. LaDiPo Famodu. 

Painting, "Man with Butterflies @ Cesar Conde

August 6th, 11am

Experimentalism - "Of Human Survival Series" is a body of work influence by Michelle Alexander's book "The New Jim Crow" regarding mass incarceration of black and brown bodies. As an artist who deals with social issues, I started using endangered species juxtaposed with black and brown bodies to serve as a bridge to a conversation of difficult issues. Black and brown bodies are also endangered due to unbalanced systemic racism in the justice system. The lively colors of these animals and insects soften the pathway to a difficult conversation, it’s a commentary on both racial inequality and climate change and who suffers the consequences of both. Cesar Conde

EXPERIMENTALISM -

BlogTalkRadio Interview Questions to contemplate

"WE ONLY THINK WHEN WE ARE CONFRONTED WITH PROBLEMS.” Do you agree with this statement? Why or Why not?

“Learning is the ability to reflect on the experience, to make sense of what came our way, and to grow personally and socially as a result.”

EXPERIMENTALISM is largely centered on the human experience. Universal education was the key to teaching people how to abandon their habits and think creatively.

EXPERIMENTALISM

”WE ONLY THINK WHEN WE ARE CONFRONTED WITH PROBLEMS.” Do you agree with this statement? Why or Why not?

Reference:

PROPONENT JOHN DEWEY (1859-1952)

American Philosopher, Psychologist, and Education Reformer

-As a Philosopher: What is LEARNING?