NOW

Saturday was the opening reception for three incredible exhibitions at the Richmond Art Center: Art of the African Diaspora, The Future is Fluid, and Right Here, Right Now, Richmond. Diverse artworks speaking to the human experience are on display. Don’t miss these thoughtful curations and expect more blog writings!

From the Richmond Art Center website: “Right Here, Right Now, Richmond looks at the excellent and risk-taking new work being made in our city. Works in the exhibition include painting, fiber art, sculpture, mixed media, photography and digital art; and together represent the breadth and depth of creative practices and ideas Richmond artists are exploring.”

Artists Amber Avalos, Tahirah Robinson, Clive Brown, and Colleen Haraden transform topographical personal experience into artistic iconography. Line becomes a DNA sequence contorted from memory. From Avalos’ website: “Working in Education and local communities over the years has inspired a transparent look at Death, Politics, and Urban Nature in Their Art and Curation.”

The artworks of Malik Seneferu, Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez, Marva Reed, and R.M.Salazar are vibrant and honest portraits of the human experience. Seneferu on ARTSPAN: “…The purpose of my compositions is to elevate the social, political, environmental and spiritual issues of people deeply challenged by oppression. This has been my greatest enrapture…”

My artwork PRO-CHOICE is part of Right Here, Right Now, Richmond. From Lou Francher’s Five Richmond Risk-Takers in the EAST BAY EXPRESS: “Jenny Balisle is a Richmond Arts & Culture Commissioner and Public Art Advisory committee member. With work on exhibit locally and worldwide and an artistic practice involving investigation of power symbols and patterns that influence public perception and social behavior, PRO-CHOICE, created with wood hanger and wire, brings women’s rights to the forefront. In response to the stance on women’s bodies and reproduction taken by President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, the hanger’s looping wire crossbar inscribes the hyphenated word. Balisle said, ‘Women, not politicians, should control their bodies.’ Later, she added, ‘Alternative facts become tools of propaganda to distort reality. Last year, Donald J. Trump said: ‘Stick with us. Don’t believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news … what you’re seeing and reading is not what’s happening.’ I’m interested in how patterns and symbols of influence impact social behavior, history, and truth.”

On February 20th from 3-5pm, my artwork PRESIDENT ABOVE LAW will be featured during the Right Here, Right Now, Richmond artist talk. The Senate will have finished its trial and vote. Candidates and fundraising will be gearing up for the presidential election. A new narrative will be dominating your Twitter feed. Locally, the community will continue pushing forward for positive change!