Jamea Richmond-Edward

FROM DC 2 MIA!

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FROM DC 2 MIA!

Seven artists from DC have been invited to participate in the Prizm Art Fair and we need your help to get there! The Selected Artists: Holly Bass, Wesley Clark, Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Shaunte Gates, Amber Robles-Gordon, Adrienne Gaither and Stan Squirewell.

In recent years, DC artists, collectors and gallerists have been making the pilgrimage to Art Basel Miami Beach in ever-growing numbers. With 260 leading galleries participating and over 50,000 people in attendance, Art Basel Miami is one of the most highly exposed art fairs in North America. This year a group of 7 Black artists will be showing work together at the Prizm Art Fair, along with other jury-selected American and international artists. This is an incredible opportunity, not only as artists but as ambassadors of DC’s contemporary art scene. 

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The Story Behind Delusions of Grandeur

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The Washington Post

By Michael O’Sullivan



“You have to be delusional to want to be an artist,” says Amber Robles-Gordon, who, with Shaunte Gates and Jamea Richmond-Edwards, debuted as the art collective Delusions of Grandeur with two back-to-back exhibitions in the summer of 2011. Originally funded by a grant from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the group has expanded to five members with the addition of Wesley Clark and Stanley Squirewell.

As tough as it is for anyone to make it as an artist, Robles-Gordon says it can be tougher for artists of color. It’s also tough, she believes, for artists struggling to balance careers and parenthood. (Several members of the group have young children.)

Having first come together as a kind of art salon, with the goal of fostering dialogue among its members, the collective has now set its sights on somewhat loftier goals. Its name may be tongue-in-cheek, but Robles-Gordon admits that “we do want to be in the history books.” 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/exhibits/no-strings-attached,1245339/critic-review.html

30 Americans: Under the Influence

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Thursday, November 17, 2011, 6-9 p.m.

Frances and Armand Hammer Auditorium

Corcoran Gallery of Art

Featuring 30 Americans artist John Bankston and presentations by Mazin Abdelhameid, Cedric Baker, Holly Bass, Tom Block, Wesley Clark, Michele Coburn, Lori Crawford, Gary Lockwood/ Freehand Profit, Carrie Nobles, Jamea Richmond-Edwards, and Amber Robles-Gordon

Join us for an evening celebrating local artists and the artists of 30 Americans! Under the Influence will feature eleven artists giving five-minute presentations about their work and the influence one of the artists in 30 Americans has had on their artistic practice. 30 Americans artist John Bankston selected the eleven artists from an open call and will begin the evening with a short presentation about his own work and influences.

Under the Influence highlights the influence of the artists of 30 Americans on the work of up-and-coming artists and invites the audience to engage with artists and their work in an exciting, innovative way. The presentations will be followed by a reception and viewing of 30 Americans.

above images, clockwise from left: Jamea Richmond-Edwards, I am Here (detail), 2009, Ink, acrylic, graphite and collaged paper on canvas; Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (detail), 2009, Acrylic on PVC; Holly Bass, African Futures: DC, 2010, Photo documentation of live performance, photo by Rosina Photography; Kara Walker, Slavery! Slavery! Presenting a GRAND and LIFELIKE Panoramic... (detail), 1997, Cut paper and adhesive on wall

WPA is supported by its members, Board of Directors, invaluable volunteers, and by generous contributions from numerous individuals and the William C. Paley Foundation, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Susan & Dixon Butler, Giselle & Benjamin Huberman, Abramson Family Foundation, Carolyn Alper, Akridge, Arent Fox LLP, The Athena Foundation, Bernstein Family Foundation, Liz & Tim Cullen, Caroline Fawcett & Tom O'Donnell, Sandra & James Fitzpatrick, Carol Brown Goldberg & Henry H. Goldberg, Corri Goldman & Michael Spivey, Haleh Design, Hickok Cole Architects, Betsy Karel, Yvette Kraft, Aimee & Robert Lehrman, Stephanie & Keith Lemer/WellNet Healthcare, Marshfield Associates, Carol & David Pensky, Susan Pillsbury, Heather & Tony Podesta, Richard Seaton & Dr. John Berger, Sidley Austin Foundation, Robert Shields Interiors, TTR Sotheby's International Realty, Vivo Design, Alexia & Roderick von Lipsey, The Washington Post Company, and William Wooby.

Admission is FREE Pre-registration is encouraged.

Presented by the Corcoran Contemporaries and Washington Project for the Arts

‘Delusions of Grandeur’

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The Washington Post

One link between the three young, local artists featured in “Delusions of Grandeur: Ascension” is African American identity. Another is fabric. Amber Robles-Gordon (whose work was reviewed by The Post in July) makes abstract hanging assemblages that feature ribbons and scraps. Jamea Richmond-Edwards does idealized portraits that incorporate textiles, sequins and bows. Shaunte Gates includes bits of cloth and other found materials in allegorical paintings that draw on the tradition of biblically themed medieval and Renaissance canvases, but also sometimes suggest the heroic poses of sci-fi and comic-book characters.

The artists chose the exhibition’s title, and in a statement explain that it refers to “the ‘delusions of grandeur’ that each artist possesses in order to continue progressing . . . in their artwork.” The “ascension” part comes from one of Gates’s paintings, which depict muscular men who are both divine and debased, as likely to sprout wings as to wear to a crown of barbed wire. His figures are rendered realistically, as are some of his settings, notably the urban alley shown in “January 6, 1956: Time Traveler.” But other backdrops are wilder, sometimes verging on abstract expressionism. “May 28, 2004: Lost One” shows a man plunging into a loosely rendered whirlpool, as if diving into the picture plane itself.

Richmond-Edwards’s work is more formal. Faces, penciled in shades of gray, combine African American features with the somber bearing of Greco-Roman sculpture. Many of the countenances are identical, giving the work a paper-doll quality. These visages are surrounded by bright colors and patterns, and adorned with a rose-petal print in various colors. If the result seems a little too fashion-schooled, clothing is a part of cultural identity. Playing dress-up is one way that people define, or redefine, themselves.

Jenkins is a freelance writer.

Artists:

Amber Robles-Gordon

Jamea Richmond-Edwards

Shaunte Gates

Delusions of Grandeur: Ascension on view through Sept. 16 at Parish Gallery-Georgetown,

1054 31st St. NW, 202-944-2310, 

Washington, DC

www.parishgallery.com.www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/photos-reach-deep-into-go-gos-pocket/2011/08/31/gIQAAaq6uJ_story_1.html

Delusions of Grandeur: Ascension

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Press Release

Shaunté Gates, In my dreams II, 2011

Amber Robles-Gordon, Peacock. 2011

Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Revealation, 2011

WASHINGTON, DC- Parish Gallery, in conjunction with the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is pleased to present an exhibition by three artists – Shaunté Gates, Jamea Richmond-Edwards and Amber Robles-Gordon, “Delusions of Grandeur: Ascension”. This show will open with a reception from 6:00-8:00 pm on Friday, August 19th, and will run through September 16th, 2011.

This exhibition is the result of an artistic dialog about the “delusions of grandeur” they each possess in order to continue progressing in their careers and most importantly in their artwork. Ascension, the act of rising to an important position or a higher level, is the theme adapted for this current body of work. Each artist presents their individual interpretation of the act of ascending.

Artists Shaunté Gates work combines multiple processes and genres, by taking appropriations and gestures from pop culture and print media which are combined to create elusive narratives. Gate’s works seduce us into an imaginary world of juxtaposition and fantasy, a place when the contradictions of culture and the human psyche are collided. His mixed media paintings capture the beauty in subjects that may appear bleak to the average eye at first glance. Gates ideas are derived from the pain, joy, and the beautiful way everything universally is connected.

Jamea Richmond-Edwards work explores the contradictions of female and cultural identity and with reference to Greek Mythology, African folklore and international fashion. Richmond- Edwards examine how mythologies from ancient times translate into today’s culture and time allegorically. Her figures are empowered by their survivalist adaptation to circumstance. Their sharp features are inspired by both high fashion models and the everyday women in her community.

Amber Robles-Gordon mixed media artworks draw upon her journey through motherhood, genealogy, healing, and being alive today. They represent her technical and scholarly growth as an artist, and are supported by her professional development in the Washington, DC area. Her two- and three-dimensional pieces it within an expansive notion of painting and sculptural form. She uses stretched canvas to support an accumulation of media in low- or sharp-relief. These assemblages require a close look to interpret their individual parts. Collectively, these parts form a visual energy comprised of the previous “lives” of the objects, their former owners, and the artist’s hand.

Parish Gallery primarily, but not exclusively, represents contemporary visual artists of significance from Africa and the African Diaspora. In selecting art and artists, Parish Gallery exercises high ethical, curatorial and market selection standards, catering to the spirit of social preservation and regeneration in collecting the art. Parish Gallery is open Tuesday thru Saturday from noon to 6:00 PM or by appointment.

Artists:

Shaunté Gates

Amber Robles-Gordon

Jamea Richmond-Edwards

Exhibition Dates: August 19- September12, 2011

Opening Reception: August 19, 2011 6-8pm

Parish Gallery

1054 31 Street NW

Washington, D.C. 20007

www.parishgallery.com