monday morning eye candy

From the Press Release for the exhibition:

“At the core of Anderson’s current body of work is a philosophical, existential examination of identity politics; based in Los Angeles, the 30-year old gay, Asian-African American sculptor is an artist working against stereotype and racialism rampant in today’s society. By working in an unexpected medium and channeling methodologies surrounding artistic production in ceramic arts, Anderson manages to create fantastic, multifaceted sculptures that are both subversive and whimsical at the same time. Alex Anderson uses the classical aesthetics of western power, which ironically share space with the aesthetics of queer camp cultural production, to translate the structures that govern his lived experience in society and others’ social perceptions of his identities into form. While his work engages with the ceramic canon and draws from the western art historical canon at large, it primarily operates at the core of Post-Blackness. Anderson’s method of production directly corresponds with current aesthetic and artistic practices and ideologies surrounding theories of Post-Black art. Working at the intersection of identity politics and aesthetic empowerment, Anderson’s ceramic creations appear charming and playful, but their frivolity is only glaze-deep. The artist’s work layers conceptions about blackness, masculinity, and perception, folding them onto one another until they become inextricably fused together, reciprocating the merging of his own personal lived experiences, historical inheritance, and conscious self-awareness as his artistic point of departure.” continued HERE.

Please view all works from the exhibition HERE.

And follow Alex Anderson on Instagram.

www.alexandersonceramics.com

monday morning eye candy: Baba Wagué Diakité

by Carole Epp | Jun 1, 2020 | monday morning eye candy

From his website:

“Wagué had his first solo exhibition in 1988 at the Jamison Thomas Gallery in Portland, Oregon and since has shown in group and solo shows throughout the United States. His work has received critical acclaim in international magazines such as American Ceramics, Ceramics Monthly, African Arts, and AFRIQUE/Etats Unis. He taught in the Oregon public school systems through the Art-in-Education, and the Young Audiences program from 1989-2007. He has traveled throughout the U.S. for author visits and workshops, including the Museum of African Art at University of Iowa, the Holter Museum of Art in Montana, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian Museum of African Art. He has been commissioned to create poster designs for a number of city-wide art festivals, and was honored to be chosen to create the artworks for recipients of the 1990 Governor’s Arts Awards in Oregon. In 2001, Wagué created an 84′ long mural and other artworks for Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge in Orlando, Florida. Baba Wagué Diakité is represented by Pulliam Gallery of Portland, OR.

Wagué is founder and director of the Ko-Falen Cultural Center in Bamako, Mali, which enables artists and travelers from other countries to live, meet, study and collaborate with artists of Mali. The Ko-Falen Cultural Center encourages cross-cultural exchanges through art, dance, music and ceremony to promote a greater understanding and respect between people. Ko-Falen also manages education programs for youth of artisans in Mali. Visit www.ko-falen.org for more information.”

www.instagram.com/babawaguediakite/

babawague.wordpress.com