Some Of Us Are Brave Feminine, Form and Function in Black Women's Art

ABOUT THIS EVENT

‘Some of Us Are Brave’ explores feminine, form and function in Black women’s art and will showcase the work of nine new and early career artists. From ceramicists to painters and collagists to printmakers, the works presented variously express ideas of the moment about what it means to be a Black woman and an artist.

The title of the show takes its name from a book of Black feminist theories published in 1982 entitled: All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave. The collection of essays was edited by Akasha (Gloria T.) Hull and Patricia Bell and was the first comprehensive writings on the issue of race and gender in the US, covering everything from racism and sexism to the role of Black female artists. It was also one of the first texts to talk about the intersection of class, race and gender as a way of explaining how Black women’s views and experiences were often marginalised in these conversations.

Black women artists have used art to convey narratives about race, culture, identity as well as to document and celebrate Black life, but they are often overlooked and their work marginalised. This exhibition will open conversations about how art can provoke, inspire and transform our thinking on a range of issues from artistic language to representation and ecology.

Included in the show is a stunning portrait by Moufouli Bello of Breonna Taylor, the young African American woman who was killed in her home by the Kentucky police last year.

Moufouli Bello said of her painting: ‘It is a representation that I did not want to be falsely triumphant because its history characterizes the epitome of the alienation of people discriminated against in a racist and unequal society.She did not choose this death; it was imposed on her. These people stole her life and her dreams, and she became the symbol of a centuries-old struggle. I wanted to pay tribute to her life, and the quiet strength she seemed to have.’

CasildART has partnered with Signature Art to present this painting and will donate all proceeds from the sale of the work to the Taylor family.

The exhibition has been curated by Sukai Eccleston, founder and owner of CasildART.

Other artists include: Bryony Benge-Abbott, Helena Appio, Moufouli Bello , Simone Brewster Onome Otite, Cece Phillips, Bokani Tshidzu, Hannah Uzor and Denise Williams.