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“The market for Black artists is great,” said Mashonda Tifrere, a New York/Los Angeles-based curator who is impacting LA’s art scene with new visions. “It always will be because our stories are unique and powerful,” she added.
Tifrere is holding her third annual “Art Genesis: 100 Days of Summer” exhibition located at 3110 West Sunset Blvd. in Silver Lake. The exhibition highlights original works from eight standouts, early, and mid-career artists: Arielle Austin, Akilah Watts, Jewel Ham, Lanise Howard, Tawny Chatmon, Victor Ubah, Natalie Lauren and Ronnie Robinson.
A veritable menagerie of creativity, 100 Days beautifully magnifies art with deep subtext about love, sexuality, grief, and childhood, giving meaning to the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words.
“That painting is titled “I Already Know The Beginning; Just Tell Me The End,” said Ronnie Robinson about his painting of an introspective man dressed in a bright salmon shirt (@RonnieRobStudio).
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“He already knew so much,” added Robinson about his subject. “He just wanted you to tell him what’s next. People are filled with a million stories. When I see a person, I don’t see them as just a person; I see them as a portal to different worlds, different times, and different experiences.”
Robinson is one of Tifrere’s carefully curated artists whose work reminds her of her favorite season. “When I think about some of my favorite memories, summer always comes to mind,” said Tifrere. “The way it makes me feel and my desire for it to last longer. This exhibition is an exploration of joy, love, and fantasies coming true,” she said, elaborating on why the show is named “100 Days of Summer.”
The show follows her recent “Note to Self” Women’s History Month exhibition at Christie’s London. She obtained her training in art business from Christie’s Education in New York.
Christie’s Education is unique because it is owned by the prestigious Christie’s auction house founded in London.
One of Tifrere’s most celebrated discoveries in the show is Natalie Lauren. In the spirit of the unrelenting audacity inherited from her hometown, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Lauren’s work is visual poetry which she calls Narrative Art Therapy. Tifrere saw something incredibly unique in Lauren’s picture of a Black boy petting a pink horse. She took it to a Christie’s show in London, and the rest is history.
“She found me on Instagram,” said Lauren, a musician new young painter without any formal training. Lauren’s work exemplifies the light that connects the spirit to the soul. She calls it Narrative Art Therapy (@NatalieLaurensims).
“I just want to be a light; I want to exist in spaces that feel very dark and invite people to pursue light. Light is whatever people need,” said Lauren.
The Art Genesis: 100 Days of Summer will be on display Tuesday – Saturday from 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm until August 5. Admission is free. In addition, there will be an intimate panel discussion titled “Art Genesis: Essentials on Navigating the Art World” on Saturday, August 5, at 6:30 p.m. at the Silver Lake gallery space. Tifrere will moderate a panel discussion with featured artists.
