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CONTENTS 06. A COLLECTIVE CONSIDERATION Publisher + Executive Editor Melissa Hunter Davis Designer + Assistant Editor Ed King Website Wilmen Gil Copy Editor Jeff Nesler Writers Angela N. Carroll Melissa Hunter Davis Daniel Dunson Jordan Levin Adam Patterson Halima Taha
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EDITOR’S LETTER | ISSUE INSIGHTS
Best laid plans
In 2019, I had scheduled 2020 editorial content for this issue of Sugarcane Magazine to appear earlier this year. Yet, despite all the best laid plans, 2020 started with some major hiccups that we couldn’t overcome. I admit that I was really upseat, and based on conversations with friends, colleagues and even on Melissa Hunter Davis, Founder and Publisher of Sugarcane Magazine
social media, I know that I was not the only one having a less than stellar start to the new year.
BLEEDS + SAFE ZONE INCORRECT - REVISED AD NEEDED The show must go on—and here is our first issue of 2020. It’s a celebration of the opportunity to look at artists and people that we simply admire, including up and coming artist Idris Habib, Ngozi Schommers, Juliana dos Santos and Larry OsseiMensah. This mix is very international and a genuine showcase of the way we see the breadth of the arts throughout the Black world: not simply as a collection of countries, but a family reunion of aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers—living in different geographical areas while doing the work that they are called to do. It can’t get any more exciting than this! As you read through this very tight issue, I encourage you to write in the margins, take notes, record your thoughts and share with me how you feel. Let me know how the work you see and read about impacts you today, and where you see this work going in the future. It’s not easy to be a print publication these days. Magazines have been folding, and in large cities
across the U.S., daily newspapers—some in operation for more than 100 years—have vanished. So, we extend our heartfelt thanks to the companies and organizations that have made this issue possible—they not only are angels to us, but they push the culture forward. Whether you’re flipping through our magazine or visiting our website, we also ask you to support the artisans in this issue and the companies that help make this publication happen— and encourage your friends and colleagues to do the same. Your support means a lot to us, it means a lot to them, and it ensures a future for Sugarcane that will defy the odds. Whether or not 2020 started off well for you, we hope that the duration of your year will be full of happiness, abundance, peace, fufillmnt, and opportunity. Yours in the arts, — Melissa Hunter Davis
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FEATURE | LARRY OSSEI-MENSAH
For 2019, Ossei-Mensah curated On The Road II (https://oolitearts.org/exhibition/on-the-road-ii/) currently on view at Oolite Arts Gallery (https://oolite-
arts.org/), Miami Beach and co-curated with Jova Lynne and Josh Ginsburg Crossing Night: Regional
On Being
Moved
Curator Larry Ossei-Mensah
BY LISA RAMOS
Identities x Global Context (https://mocadetroit. org/crossing-night/) at the MOCAD in Detroit.
Tell me about your curatorial practice and what led you to the position at MOCAD? For the last ten years, I’ve been working independently, guided by my interest in platforming Black, brown,
queer and other voices on the margins. MOCAD was an opportunity to engage in a city like Detroit that is in a state of... becoming with itself.
How do I find the diamonds in the rough? My practice
is nomadic, not really rooted in one place. I’m interested in engaging with smaller cities which aren’t New
York or LA, but they have something to tell us. How
Larry Ossei-Mensah is a curator working on various projects in addition to his roles as the Susanne Feld Hilberry Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art & Design (MOCAD) in Detroit and curatorial advisor at Oolite Arts in Miami. In 2013, he co-founded the global culturalist collective ARTNOIR (artnoir.co) and has curated shows at Marra Contemporanea in Rome, Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York, MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass., and most recently at BAM in Brooklyn as the first guest curator at The Rudin Family Gallery. In 2017, he was the critic-in-residence at Art Omi in Ghent, N.Y.
do you identify the artists whose work is out there, finding new and different narratives that are accessible? I want to support that. It’s also interesting to
experience the shift from being an independent curator to working and collaborating within an institution.
In your travels, how do you engage with the local art scene and its artists? What draws you to a place? For me, in this moment, I look for people who are excited about what they’re doing. I’ve been going to Miami since around 2005. There are a lot of artists who live and work in the city, who are not just
seasonal residents. You have programs at places like Oolite, Bakehouse, Locust Projects, and The Haitian Cultural Center that have become the bedrock of its
art scene. Miami to me is still evolving, but it is exciting to witness. It’s not about one person who represents
the city, but a group of artists working there as a whole. Miami is defining itself, which is interesting and inspiring to me.
Do you find the most inspiration in the concepts and practices by artists of color? Farley Aguilar is one for sure. I’m not just a curator of
6
SUGARCANELarry MAGAZINE | SPRING | ISSUE ONE Ossei-Mensah | Photo 2019 credit Freddie Rankin.
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FEATURE | LARRY OSSEI-MENSAH
In a way, Black Florida is like Hong his work in the Oolite show, but honestly, I’m a fan.
continually teach us.
Kong—its own culture and economy. I
and respect.
In a way, Black Florida is like Hong Kong—its own cul-
was fascinated by how she’s Trinidadian,
His mark is very specific, and I believe he’s self-taught.
dadian, and she documents these traditions around
and she documents these traditions around
was struck by the image of the gentleman holding
Black spirituality, culture, and language
about The Nation of Islam at all. Somehow, she finds
in Miami. I was struck by the image of
archive of the city.
the gentleman holding The Final Call.
Tiff and I have been in dialogue over a year. She was
When I think about Miami, I don’t think
MOCAD. I was impressed by the rigor of her practice.
about The Nation of Islam at all.
He’s not interested in the art world per se, which I dig
The painting, Soldier With Shadow came from some reading he did about the Scottsboro Boys (https://
www.history.com/topics/great-depression/scottsboro-boys). I was reminded of that double-consciousness (https://bit.ly/38ydp9Y) we experience in Amer-
ica; how we navigate a society that we are born into, but not of. That piece makes me think about a time
where you served your country, but it doesn’t always show veterans of color receiving that love in return.
His other piece, Prisoner, was a response to Florida
passing the law that ex-felons could vote, but then the governor has actively worked to overturn the law even though this is something the people voted for.
There’s a book called Propaganda (https://amzn. to/3cKn8wS) by Edward Bernays that I find to be a
truly instructive text. The book taught me that there is no binary in propaganda. (During WWI) the Germans
Black spirituality, culture, and language in Miami. I
The Final Call. When I think about Miami, I don’t think these spaces. I wanted to display her work as a living
one of the first artists I met in Detroit prior to joining I never thought about gingham and the story she’s we are showing nine panels from an installation of 12
Yes! That detail of our history and the Tulsa Riots were explored in the Watchmen with Regina King. Exactly. I was captivated by Johanne Rahaman’s (Miami) photographs and Tiff Massey’s (Detroit) installation of the gingham print and collage. What attracted you to these two artists? You know, Johanne received an Ellie Award in 2018.
She did this one project during Black People Week or Urban Week. I don’t like the title Urban Week because
deeply influenced by jazz, that whole Beatnik scene
was. That vibration does something to you whether you’re conscious or unconscious of it. That became a starting point for me.
That’s how I flow—like if I’m going to Baltimore for
two weeks, what’s going on in Baltimore? I like to explore parallels and differences that shape our identity. If you think about why do Black folks come to New
York—Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn—there’s history here. I also think about what draws people in general to a place. What draws people to Miami?
of what it implies, but Johanne had this one photo-
I like to explore themes of geography, migration, lan-
She looks at Black Florida (https://www.blackflorida.
Miami, English is like a second language most times.
graph of people on a barge in Miami that struck me.
org/the-project) as an active, living space that can
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2019 | ISSUE ONE
guage—things that are integral parts of a place. In In On The Road II, Ernesto Oroza and Gean Moreno’s
Central Bank of Rwanda in Kigali. Binelde uses dark humor to talk about difficult things. That piece caused
all this commotion and was on the evening news. I think he installed it at night—guerilla style.
Do you consider yourself aesthetically a maximalist or minimalist? I would say neither, really. Crossing Night, I probably used a more minimalist approach from an installation
standpoint. I would even say On the Road II is similar. I never jam pack a show. Parallel & Peripheries (https://
different countries in Southern Africa.
II and Crossing Night: Regional Identities x Global
ing to me is influenced by Black culture. I know he was
a lake or lagoon, cuts it in half, then puts it front of the
Crossing Night, there are 22 artists representing five
ling show. Tell me about the themes of On the Road
The Road. The rhythm and tonality of Kerouac’s writ-
another piece. In the video, he takes a van, sinks into
towards maximalist. There were 12 artists in that show.
On the Road II at Oolite Arts is a vivid and compel-
On the Road II is a response to Jack Kerouac’s On
Binelde came and made two works—one video and
curator-larry-ossei-mensah/) probably gestured more
lating other ways of making and painting.
were they serving their racist country? What is hap-
by tuning in and unplugging at the same time.
www.visartscenter.org/event/2019-visarts-mentoring-
works. It’s a very intentional piece. To me, she’s articu-
Context?
pening to us now?
— Larry Ossei-Mensah
trying to tell through this material. At Oolite Arts,
were slick to drop those flyers... to cast that moment of doubt in the minds of Black troops. You know, why
8
ture and economy. I was fascinated by how she’s Trini-
He is also responding to the MOCAD space in Detroit
piece is a conversation around the rental economy in Miami, which is deep.
I co-curated Crossing Night with Jova Lynn and Josh
I’m also trying to get the viewer to slow down, which is hard when there’s a lot of stuff. This is equally hard when my approach is more minimalist and there’s not a lot of stuff in a space.
Ginsburg. Josh is based in Cape Town. The MOCAD
What are you currently working on?
the Southern African region. Edson Chagas (Golden
Doubles is a part of a series of two-person shows that
a warehouse in Angola that is totally desolated
will be John Rivas, who is a first-generation Salvador-
edition of Crossing Night is focused on artists from
Lion Recipient, 2013 Venice Biennale) photographed or unused.
I was thinking about spaces that are in a state of flux, transformation, and civil war. How do you tell these
stories? Providing space for other artists and their
I’ve been working on for about a year. The next one an-American, and February James who is based in
Los Angeles. That will be at Ross and Kramer Gallery (https://rkgallery.com/exhibitions/ Jan. 11, 2020.
New York) until
ideas around identity—our past and future history.
I’m also doing a show in Rome in May 2020. The big
Can you tell me more about Nicholas Hlobo and
Biennale (www.instagram.com/athensbiennale). That
Binelde Hyrcan site-specific sculptural installations for Crossing Night? They’re doing two separate things. Nicholas is re-in-
stalling a performance piece he did at the ICA Boston.
thing though for 2020—I’m working on the Athens will be my focus next year. All the artists featured will
be of African descent, Afro-Caribbean, Latinx and Af-
ro-European. There will be some dope programming as well—music, screenings, fashion, but fashion with a little f not a big F (laughs).
#WEAREBLACKCULTURE | SUGARCANEMAG.COM
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FEATURE | IDRIS HABIB
IDRIS HABIB
CREATING ACCEPTANCE OF THE SELF BY DANNY DUNSON
The acceptance of oneself has been my focal point. I see humans like onions; even though the layers look the same, the fact is the layers have a lot of different things to say about a person. We often use the saying “never judge a book by its cover,” but most, if not all of us have judged, and have dealt with discrimination in some shape or form based on skin color, sexuality, gender, and/or religion, which happens to be the key to all of it.—Idris Habib
Historically, within the canon of contemporary Black art, chromatic Blackness has been deployed on the
canvas to express infinite concepts within the Black
experience. Present day, Kerry James Marshall is the most celebrated artist using this artistic maneuver
that started in the Harlem Renaissance, when African
American artists harkened back to an ancient African
past, rather than using traditional Western tropes to express the Black experience within the West.
As I know the kindness and generosity of Marshall
first hand, I can surely state that he is pleased that he has lived long enough to witness a new generation of
artists who are not afraid to use saturated tones of black pigment within figurative compositions.
Idris Habib was born in Accra, Ghana. He moved to Europe as a young child, and later to the U.S. For the past five years, Habib has been spending his days in
Europe, working and living between different countries and cities. Currently, the artist spends the majority of his weekends in The Netherlands. In his small stu-
dio space, Habib devotes most of his time to creating. For Habib, a work is never finished as long as it in his
workspace. Often, the artist paints over work, constantly adding or changing things whenever he en-
Alverez | Idris Habib
other background noise is always welcome. Habib
siders himself to be a self-taught artist, “I loved learn-
“I will look at least 1000 pictures, including people
life, from seeing street art growing up in The Bronx, to
counters a piece in his studio. In the studio, music and drinks a lot of tea while painting, among other ritual, watching, before I start a new portrait.”
Habib studied marketing at Long Island University in
Brooklyn, New York, and economics at City College in Harlem, New York as a graduate student. Habib con-
ing through experiences with people from all walks of observing amazing street fashion everywhere in New
York City, Paris and now everywhere in Europe and around the world.”
Using travel as global inspiration board, Habib tilted
Akorley | Idris Habib
10
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2019 | ISSUE ONE
#WEAREBLACKCULTURE | SUGARCANEMAG.COM
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FEATURE | IDRIS HABIB
his focus to a more concentrated art practice, inspired
in the past, present and future, encompassing the
and painted to calm myself as a kid with
out the world.
Atlantic and Trans-Sahara), colonialism, neo-colonialism,
as something serious, because I come
by his observations of People of Color living through-
“My trip back to Europe, where I traveled through
Switzerland, France, Germany and Belgium in 2007-
08 really triggered something in me, which led me into doing more art and everything relating to art.
So, I have been practicing art “professionally” for a
little over 12 years now. I used to, and still make, what is called commercial art on vinyl. I sold them on the streets of Soho, New York,” he says.
Inspired by both past and contemporary artists, Habib’s work attempts to be in conversation with the works of Henri Matisse, Rembrandt, Kehinde Wiley, Barkley Hendricks, Kara Walker and Kerry James Marshall.
“We inspire me the most,” Habib explains. “As Black/
deindustrialization,
forced
religious
high energy, I never really thought of it
conversion,
from a very traditional family.”
miscegenation laws, imperialism, white supremacy,
erasure of indigenous languages, capitalism, wage
Habib’s persistence in following his ar-
tribalism, immigration, racially domestic terrorism, all
to define his life on his own terms. Lead
disparities, Black women’s rights, queerness, colorism,
tistic inner voice gave him the courage
other violences, and anti-Blackness.
with scholarly curiosity, Habib constantly interrogates how social struc-
These themes incited Habib’s interrogation of the
tures came into existence, yesterday
past and present, as he sought ways to promote
and today, and yearns to be a part of
Blackness within the visual field. “The skin bleaching
what is now, and tomorrow.
and the hair thing nowadays have led me into using more black paint than my usual mix of colors. This
“I will say that my life has been experi-
thing. Making the skin tones and details fascinates
that I have moved around a lot, from
has been a great pleasure, and it’s now becoming my
mental since childhood due to the fact
me more than the finished work.
country to country, city to city…
brown people, our being amazes me, especially our
“I want to see changes in art,” Habib exclaims. “I
“My proudest moments will be seeing
walks. Our ways of expressing ourselves is art.”
form or shape. Art encourages me to look beyond
challenges that come with it. I strongly
facial features, and our body structure, our smiles, our
For the last year, Habib has been creating a series of
feel the only way to do that is to be part of it in any
“These past ten or so years have been the most chal-
on the interior thoughts, the humanity of the subjects
the only way to express this is through art due to the
rendered, rather than nuanced depictions of black skin tone that celebrate variances.
“I think of myself and every other human being as a work of art created by God—He/She really took His/ Her time in creating us People of Color. And as for my
recent work, I want to convey a message of acceptance of one’s origin, skin color, roots and or whatever that makes me, you, and me you,” Habib continues.
Atlantic Slave Trade, Habib experiences identity
fact that art has become the only thing that is sort of
both his identity and his work to the broad conversation of the African Diaspora—Multicultural Blackness.
good in my life right now. It keeps me calm, it gives me a sense of relief, and keeps me sane.
“I don’t know what I would do without this amazing
of diasporas, but Multicultural Blackness is situated
where! Even though as a child I drew, made sketches,
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2019 | ISSUE ONE
tion in this world. It is that thought that drives me to continue use my creativity
to express myself in hope to inspire others like me, and the world in general.
I use a lot of blue with white in most of
my painting to establish a surreal notion of purity and safety and black to bring out everything into light.”
The strong color palette and power-
ful expressions found in Habib’s latest series are a defining moment for the
—Idris Habib
The word diaspora takes on different meanings for
different people, for there are many different types
continue to conquer human segrega-
“I loved learning through experiences with people from all walks of life, from seeing street art growing up in The Bronx, to observing amazing street fashion everywhere in New York City, Paris and now everywhere in Europe and around the world.”
through different modes of Blackness that connect
believe that art in all forms has and will
lenging and thought-provoking years of my life. I feel
As an African Diasporian of contemporary migration, an immigration movement, rather than of the Trans-
the results of facing my fears and the
my surroundings…
portraits that use hyper-saturated brown and black pigments for skin tone. This move facilitates a focus
12
histories and living legacies of: chattel slavery (Trans-
gift from God. This art thing kind of came out of no-
young artist.
The work is less of a derivative copy, Farida | Idris Habib
and more of a continuation of an ongoing conversation with contemporary art and Blackness at large.
“I don’t think I can save the world, but I do believe I can play a part in changing it for the better,” says Habib.
#WEAREBLACKCULTURE | SUGARCANEMAG.COM
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a r o p s a i D s e t o N
We come from the waters and the earth, and back to the earth and the waters we will all one day return. White Noise: When Raindrops Whisper and Moonlight Screams in Silence, the first solo exhibition from ceramicist Morel Doucet mines the waters for inspiration to render intricate sculp-
MOREL DOUCET
tural works about the precariousness of Black life and immigrant experiences in America.
BY: ANGELA N. CARROLL
The endangered ecosystems of coral reef colonies, green seas, and tropical marine life are cast in porcelain
and juxtaposed with disembodied limbs, and archetypes of wealth from Western and African empires.
Doucet’s sculptures are haunting markers about the residues of colonial history and the complex negotiation of American
race relations. Doucet describes the feeling triggered by
this negotiation as white noise, “a buzzing discomfort that makes you unsure of your place.” Acculturation is discordant;
Morel Doucet | Image © David Gary Lloyd
a blaring disruption troubled by one’s desire to attain the full spectrum of human rights that should be guaranteed by citizenship.
At the core of Doucet’s work is a query about the aspects of
one’s identity and cultural memory that are sacrificed with im-
migration and assimilation. Who or what is allowed to die or be displaced? Whose protections will be sustained?
Imagine being forced to leave your home, your country, be-
bronzed by the sun of the Carib-
We learned from Trayvon, as
also compared to shit, and your
unarmed Black men that to
bean, Africa or Latin America is
you seek solace in America, because they offer asylum and
through political asylum after his
a declaration to harbor the worlds hungry and weary.
You do not learn until you arrive that this promise has eroded into literal and legislative borders and xenophobia. You do not learn until your arrival that the American president will
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2019 | ISSUE ONE
well as other unnamed and
life is considered less than.
Doucet, who is Haitian born,
the image of a stone matriarch with an ever-burning flame and
14
South Florida.
a shit-hole. Your skin, a pride,
cause of political power struggles, colonialism, and tyrannical
regimes; all circumstances entirely outside of your control. So,
Deathof a Nation, Time as lovers and faithful sinners Porcelain ceramic with cast altered forms | 5”
refer to the land of your birth as
gained
American
be Black and male in Florida is
to be a target. In many ways, Doucet’s art is a direct corol-
citizenship
father was falsely imprisoned by former President of Haiti JeanClaude “Baby Doc” Duvalier.
lary to the unstable protection of Black bodies, his family hisThe Death of Venus (We gon’ be alright) Slipped cast porcelain ceramic | 12” x 12“ x 7.5” | 2019
Upon the release
of Doucet’s father, their family, fearing for their lives, fled the country. The Doucet’s were initially
placed in the American Midwest and later settled in
tory and the uncertain environmental security of Florida,
a region particularly affected by climate change and warming sea tides.
Like the coral reefs, bleached and dying from 1#WEAREBLACKCULTURE | SUGARCANEMAG.COM
15
9
Black Death - Crown of thorns | Porcelain ceramic with cast altered forms | 14.5” x 6” x 6.5” | 2019
or 2-degree increases in temperature, the pressure
and expectation of Black immigrant success stories are compounded by the daily aggressions of Ameri-
some of the practices that result from colorism and cultural taboos.
can racism. Unlike the immigration stories of popula-
Among them, Blanc (2015), a bleached white collec-
ing their names, were able to become “white,” the
whitening creams around the world. Cream of the
tions from Europe or Latin America who, by changimpossibility of attaining whiteness for populations from darker continents
tion of flora and fauna, critiques the popularity of skin Crop, a mocha brown fabrication, examines the color
bias that persists in profes-
is exacerbated by the
sions such as aviation and
shame and violence of
the film industry, which
colonial histories.
overwhelmingly
people with lighter com-
Early on, Doucet was interested
in
plexions.
explor-
central installation, Let it
specifically the ways that
begin (Clock Work) (2015),
colorism contributes to
dispari-
ties in Africa, Southeast
a stark, white face that is
Morel Doucet | Image © David Gary Lloyd
Asia, India, Latin America, the Caribbean and United States. His mixed media and ceramic series, Clock
partially obscured by wild
white organic outgrowths.
White Noise includes sculptures from Clock Work,
Work (2015), cleverly arranges individual synthetic
but offers a localized analysis about how ecological
tion reminiscent of a clock. Each sculpture is titled
nities. Climate Gentrification, the notion that people
flora, fauna and coral sculptures in a circular formawith a singular noun or adjective that addresses
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Seven sculp-
tures in total surround a
ing hybridity in identity,
socioeconomic
hires
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2019 | ISSUE ONE
volatility in Miami may impact resident Black commuwithout the means to escape natural disasters caused
White Noise, Let the choir sing a magnified silence (50 Affirmation) | Slipped Cast Porcelain | 5’
#WEAREBLACKCULTURE | SUGARCANEMAG.COM
17
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by climate change will be those most affected by displacement, is a significant point of inquiry.
Porcelain likenesses of coral and maritime plant
life act as metaphors for the parlous futures of the Black low-income neighborhoods in Miami including Overtown, Liberty City, and Little Haiti.
One of Doucet’s powerful statements about this is articulated in the installation, White Noise, Let the choir sing a magnified silence (50 Affirmations) (2017). The installation includes 50 por-
celain dolls whose heads have been replaced by commodities and objects you would find on the
bottom of the sea floor: coral, shells, safety pins, small fish. All forms are white, like dead coral.
All sit in silence, a nod from the artist about the silencing of Black and immigrant communities in
Miami, and the influx of development, gentrification, and privatization along the coastline of
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Miami. In The Death of Venus (We gon’ be al-
right) (2019), two arms emerge from the interior of a massive seashell covered in flora and fauna.
The forms rest against a mandala-like starburst. These sculptures are also all-white.
Doucet also appropriates colonial Francophone
and British teapots and other old vestiges of status, wealth and currency as a stand-in for
power. In Exonerated – A drink and a sonnet to the last Barrier Reef (2019), two white porce-
lain vessels are laden with white coral growths. The sculptures, icons of European power, subtly rupture and reclaim presumptions about who can attain power.
That the hands of a Black Haitian have created
those forms is a radical revisionist act. The power of Doucet’s ceramics is that they function as
IT BEGI NS WITH YOU
indelible interventions, critical statements about
the identities and communities who are too often not offered a seat at the table. For Doucet,
the silence of those communities is cacopho-
nous. The white noise of systemic disparities is
too loud for him to ignore. Doucet’s work is a hopeful and deliberate meditation that centers on the communities that will be most affected by the devastation of global warming.
Introducing “The Mandala” necklace. Explore a bold collection of silk couture, exquisite earrings, and unique clutches:
ErinBassettArtistry.com
#WEAREBLACKCULTURE | SUGARCANEMAG.COM
19
FEATURE | NGOZI SCHOMMERS
in this performance, Schommers flips the script by posing a question, ”if not for a child…,“ tackling one
to a side of the wall.
of the bases for which recognition is accorded to a woman not only among the Igbo people—an ethnic group in Eastern Nigeria, where the artist is from—
but across various ethnic groups in Nigeria and Africa. Ngozi Schommers is known for recurrently exploring
issues of identity and womanhood in her works. And
this exhibition—the way we mask—was no different.
In this exhibition, the artist expanded on her body of work focusing on memories, culture and identity to understand how hairstyles have shaped identity,
again, particularly among the Igbos. She did this by delving into archives dating as far back as the precolonial era, her mother’s old album of photographs,
and a book by George Thomas Basden, who began
OF HAIR AND IDENTITY A REVIEW BY ROLI O’TSEMAYE Ngozi Schommers | My Head Under | perforated paper, sequin, design paper, watercolour, ink on Watercolour paper | 150x180 cm
his documentation in the 1800s, titled Among the Ibos of Nigeria.
Stepping into the space, I was initially confronted with the conceptual and experimental nature in which the works were executed and presented. A mirror here,
mixed media paintings about, a wig with bendy rollers on one corner of the floor, miniature paper drawings arranged asymmetrically on another side; and
there were also suspended works and installations. The exhibition space had been designed to invite an
immersive, explorative experience. Curated by Wura
Part of the installation Mmanwu (masquerade) by Ngozi Schommers
Natasha Ogunji, this presentation style held little surOne afternoon in the second week of November, I
I would learn later that If Not for a Child was the title
see an exhibition by Ngozi Schommers, wondering
curated by Wura Natasha Ogunji for the fair, called
went to the National Museum at Onikan, Lagos, to
what I would encounter of her work this time around. In the previous week, during the ART X Lagos fair, I
had watched Schommers, accompanied in a performance by other women.
They were all dressed in red blouses, with a wrapper tied around their waists, dancing around a heap
of things comprised of a bowl of uncooked rice, soap
bars, bottles of gin, yam tubers, powders and a bulk
Small Acts.
In this work, which she was performing for the second time since she created it during her residency with
Arthouse Foundation in 2018, the artist was re-enacting scenes from what happens in the Igbo tradition,
when a mother returns home from taking care of her daughter, who has just given birth.
her works as well.
A visitor would first come in contact with a large mirror carrying the name of the artist, the title of the exhibition, the reflection of the exhibition space and of course, that of the person standing before it. I stood
there for a while, taking in the various activities pre-
sented on the walls and before long, I was in dialogue with the various forms on the mirror, including myself.
“What are you masking? What does she want the viewer to see with this mirror?”
of folded wrappers. As they moved, they kept chant-
Upon her return, the mother’s friends and co-wives
I was suddenly more self-conscious than I had been
not for a child, if not for a child.”
examining the gifts she has returned with. However,
being compelled to be part of the works in the exhibi-
ing in tones that felt more like a cry than a melody, ”If
20
of the work, which was one of three performances
prise as similar effects are regularly encountered in
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2019 | ISSUE ONE
come to rejoice and shower her with adulation, while
moments before coming into this view. It felt like I was
As they moved, they kept chanting in tones that felt more like a cry than a
melody, ”If not for a child, if not for a
child.” I would learn later that If Not for a Child was the title of the work, which was one of three performances
curated by Wura Natasha Ogunji for the fair, called Small Acts.
tion. This made me quite uncomfortable, so I turned #WEAREBLACKCULTURE | SUGARCANEMAG.COM
21
FEATURE | NGOZI SCHOMMERS
They all had their hair in
of them. The drawings are abstracted forms of the
With this work, Schommers made a statement on the
querades in Igbo culture, performed annually during
as a tool for stereotypes and sometimes, enforcing an
Agbogho Mmuo (maiden spirit mask), one of the mas-
various stages of completion,
the dry season. This masquerade is performed strictly
much like the images themselves.
by men who dress as adolescent girls, depicting their
beauty and movements in tribute to both real and the
They were never quite in their complete form. As with most
of her figurative renditions,
In observing pictures of some of these masks dating
people with kinky hair, thought of as scruffy and un-
that existed then. In these drawings, one would notice
various nuances of movement, too. They are seen in
the legs she has attached in some of the drawings, or
alternate space into the one in
simply in the circular motions used in creating these
which you encountered them.
combs, which were inserted as decorative ornaments after their hair had been done in plaits.
such that the subjects seemed to interact
with
the
viewer simultaneously.
space
and
The installations that were presented in an adjoining
the
room are perhaps the most impressive aspects of the
exhibitions because of their scales and forms. They were highly conceptual in the way they appeared, cre-
I was immediately reminded of ruby ony-
ated with the same idea of the mixed-media works
inyechi amanze, a Brooklyn-based, Ni-
I described earlier, as emerging from an alternate
gerian-British artist, who also does her
space while interacting with the one they occupied.
drawings in a similar manner of manipulating space and dimensions on flat surfaces. But these were rendered colorful-
Part of the installation Mmanwu (masquerade) by Ngozi Schommers
ly in perforated paper, sequins, confetti,
acrylic, watercolor, and in some works, linen. These
are some of the most charming effects of Schommer’s visual language.
Her clever combination of unrelated materials to yield
enchanting, vivid and discernible forms that are beautiful, yet not distracting from the essence of the exhibition’s narrative. The arrangement of these works
emphasized an underlying sense of movement, which
I followed. Images of two children, positioned very closely together, as if they were siblings, in front view,
22
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2019 | ISSUE ONE
and two women captured in back view. They all had their hair in various stages of completion,
much like the images themselves. They were never
quite in their complete form. As with most of her figu-
rative renditions, Schommers depicted them like they
were emerging from an alternate space into the one
In one spot, there was a bulk of long tresses of braids that extended from the ceiling to the floor.
Else-
where, there were abstracted head forms suspended with strings, carrying various hairstyles dating several
people now proudly wear kinks and dreads. Still, reorientation cannot be done enough.
pher, also explored Nigerian hairstyles in his works, meant in an increasingly diverse world. Schommers’
approach, however, took a rather socio-cultural and political approach. Even though the presentation initially came across as fragmented and quite estranged
from the presented narrative, the clue to understand-
ing lay in digging further, and approaching the space like a puzzle.
Schommers made a statement on the
politics of hair, how hair has been used over the years as a tool for stereotypes and sometimes, enforcing an idea on
the “right kind of hair,” especially as the artist is a Black migrant living
hundreds of years, but which still have their places in
in Germany.
Bantu knots, which have always been known locally
The artist was not very generous with details: the
contemporary times, including the popularly known as ”koso.”
in which you encountered them.
In a piece that is clearly a self-portrait of the artist cre-
Another side of the wall had about 60 miniature draw-
paper, several deductions could be made. The subject
ings, done in charcoal, with a hint of color on some
however, the narrative has begun to change as more
but focused on the aesthetics of hair and what it
instance, in some of these drawings, she included
them—a 3D effect on a flat surface,
of their curls by relaxing their hair. In recent times,
tional designs by the Igbo people.
might have inspired their hairstyles at the time. For
dimension in which the artist rendered
presentable, such that a lot of Black people get rid
The late J.D. Okhai Ojeikere, a Nigerian photogra-
Schommers included elements from the things that seemed to be floating because of the
larly thought of as mad people or weed smokers, and
drawings, bearing semblance with some patterns in uli aesthetics, which are basically curved lines in tradi-
At a glance, the works on this side
is a Black migrant living in Germany.
For example, people with dreads were initially, popu-
hairstyles on the masks, made traces to the hairstyles
they were emerging from an
idea on the “right kind of hair,” especially as the artist
spirit maidens who have passed away.
as far back as the 18th century, the artist, using the
Schommers depicted them like
politics of hair, how hair has been used over the years
ated with perforated paper, confetti and watercolor was seen holding what one would guess was a de-
tangling comb to a section of her Afro-textured hair.
works were not labeled and the contrast of time not emphasized, even though the collection of works in this exhibition was largely built on archives. Even so, when thought of and approached as a giant piece
of art, connections were discovered and gaps were filled, bringing about the kind of reward that comes with learning, unlearning and relearning.
#WEAREBLACKCULTURE | SUGARCANEMAG.COM
23
a r o p s a i D s e t No
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ART
A Look at The Newest Art Capital—Los Angeles BY: DOMINIQUE CLAYTON
As an LA native, I am no stranger to all of the city’s offerings, from the more laid-back beach to the vibrant star-studded Hollywood scene. LA has a vast range of sights and sounds spread across its ever-growing and changing neighborhoods, but it’s the rapidly expanding arts industry that has everyone talking.
THE UNDERGROUND MUSEUM
Founded in 2012 by the late Noah Davis and his wife Karon, the Underground Museum is a cultural oa-
CAAM has a permanent collection of more than
tant to consider how and where Black artists occupy
California and the American West in addition to a
and art spaces pop up around town, it’s importhese spaces.
In the same way that Black Hollywood has grown
growing collection of work from across the United States and the African diaspora.
from a need to navigate bias and racism in the
Select exhibitions include:
tors in LA are also working closely within artistic
A Caricature of Black Womanhood, 1840–1940
entertainment business, Black artists and collec-
communities to advocate for themselves and create new opportunities for artistic cultivation, sustainability and celebration.
Making Mammy:
September 25, 2019–March 1, 2020
curated by Tyree Boyd-Pates, Taylor
Bythewood-Porter, and Brenda Stevenson
I used to think of LA as a physically and culturally seg-
Cross Colours: Black Fashion in the 20th Century
in their own neighborhoods. However, rapid devel-
Curated by Tyree Boyd-Pates
regated city. Most ethnic groups did their own things
opment and gentrification have formed new points
of entry and exit for people of all backgrounds into
September 27, 2019–Summer 2020 and Taylor Bythewood-Porter
different communities. These shifts have sparked di-
In addition to engaging exhibitions and programs,
history while setting the stage for art that speaks to
that houses more than 6,000 books, periodicals, re-
alogue about cultural ownership, appropriation and both the old and the new LA.
I’ve listed a few of my favorite art spaces that feature Black artists, so be sure to check these out on your next visit to LA:
CALIFORNIA AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM
Founded in 1977 and opened to the public in 1981,
24
4,000 objects focusing on African American art from
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2019 | ISSUE ONE
the museum features an extensive research library
cords and ephemera that date back to the museum’s inception. The library is open to the public.
One of the best events that CAAM has to offer is the seasonal celebration Can’t Stop Won’t Stop!, which
incorporates performance, live DJs, and food trucks to kick off the openings of fall and spring exhibitions. www.caamuseum.org
Erin Christovale
sis in the Mid-City/Arlington Heights community of
THE BROAD
in 2015, Davis laid the foundation for a robust art
has an increasingly diverse collection of contem-
Los Angeles. Before his untimely death to cancer exhibition program in connection with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, which agreed to
lend works from its permanent collection for Davis’ future exhibitions.
Located in the heart of downtown LA, The Broad
porary art by artists of all backgrounds including
breathtaking pieces by Black artists including Mark Bradford, Kara Walker, El Antsui, Ellen Gallagher, and Glen Ligon.
In addition to art exhibitions, the UM also hosts
The Broad also houses one of the largest collec-
film and music launch parties including a packed
presented the West Coast premiere of Soul of a
community gatherings centered around wellness,
preview screening of the acclaimed film, Queen and
Slim hosted by Solange Knowles, and engaging artAs art institutions expand and new galleries
organized by Hammer Museum Associate Curator
ist talks with their “Holding Court” speaker series. https://theunderground-museum.org Previoous Exhibition Rodney McMillian:
Brown: videos from The Black Show
tions of original Basquiat paintings and recently Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963–1983,
originated by the Tate Modern in London, which
welcomed close to 170,000 visitors from all parts of Los Angeles. In 2020, The Broad celebrates its 5th
anniversary, so you can expect to see an all-star roll out of some of the best contemporary art to date. www.thebroad.org
through February 16, 2020
LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Exhibition
Located in the Mid-Wilshire “Miracle Mile” area,
Noah Davis
March 2020 ART + PRACTICE
Founded by artist Mark Bradford, philanthropist
and collector Eileen Harris Norton, and social activist Allan DiCastro, Art + Practice is a great cultural and social services space in the historic Leimert
Park community in South LA. In addition to a rotating exhibition program supplemented by art-
MUSEUM OF ART (LACMA)
LACMA has an impressive permanent collection and star-studded events such as the Art + Film Gala, which recently honored Betye Saar and
Alfonso Cuarón. Current special exhibitions include
a Julie Meheretu retrospective through May 2020 and Betye Saar: CALL AND RESPONSE through
April 5, 2020. Stay tuned for the LACMA line up at www.lacma.org
ists’ talks and community events, Art + Practice
ARRAY
training, access to housing opportunities, and indi-
ist Ava Duvernay in 2010, ARRAY and ARRAY Alli-
provides space for foster youth to receive life-skills vidualized education and employment support via
its foster youth service collaborator, First Place for Youth. www.artandpractice.org Current Exhibition
Selections from The Eileen Harris Norton Collection February 8, 2020–August 1, 2020
Founded by award-winning filmmaker and activance is a creative campus and organization dedicated to supporting and showcasing films and other creative work by people of color and women
of all kinds. The campus is located in the historic Filipinotown and houses post-production facilities,
event space, and the newly opened Amanda Theater, which recently hosted its inaugural ARRAY
#WEAREBLACKCULTURE | SUGARCANEMAG.COM
25
13
360 film series that featured a curated assortment
of films by female directors including Euzhan Palcy,
Shirin Neshat, Garrett Bradley, and Mati Diop in
ter, Gavlak Gallery, Charlie James Gallery, and Wilding Cran Gallery.
addition to a John Singleton retrospective. For more
What makes the growing art scene in Los Angeles so
check out www.arraynow.com.
artists like Lauren Halsey, Genevieve Gaignard, Alex
information about the programming at ARRAY,
When I’m not browsing museums, I like to support
artists of color at their solo and group gallery shows
around town. Some spots I frequent regularly are Band of Vices in West Adams, UTA Artist Space in
Beverly Hills, Jeffrey Deitch Gallery in Hollywood,
Residency Art Gallery in Inglewood and a host of spaces in Downtown LA including Suzanne Vielmet-
special is its vibrant community of artists. LA-based
Anderson, Diedrick Brackens, Umar Rashid, Shinique
Smith, Kohshin Finley, Karon Davis, and so many more show up for each other and help to open doors to col-
lectors, institutions, and other artists, creating a deep network from which everyone can thrive. As more art
fairs come to the city, it’s refreshing to see interna-
tional galleries and art patrons taking notice. I predict we’ll soon see an LA ART Week that rivals Miami!
Installation view | Rodney McMillian | Brown: videos from The Black Show | Courtesy of The Underground Museum | Photo by Zak Kelley.
26
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2019 | ISSUE ONE
At the center of the contemporary art scene in Brazil are the numerous Afro-Brazilian artists and curators blending research with contemporary art practice to honor Black memory and contributions.
Through interdisciplinary methods including photo, installation, and performance, she relies on her experiences to broaden meditations on Blackness, womanhood and contemporary art. This year, she will present at the 12th Mercosur Visual Arts Biennial in Porto
Alegre, Brazil, the Glasgow Biennial and an exhibit at
Juliana dos Santos is an emergent voice pushing
Gentil Carioca in Rio de Janeiro. In January, we dis-
these narratives further. Raised in a primarily Black
especially those from the Global South, and where we
cussed what the current demands are for Black artists,
district of Casa Verde in São Paulo, dos Santos has
envision them going as Black artists and curators.
spent the majority of her practice stretching the
How would you describe your practice?
conversation on Blackness, blues and futures.
I would describe my practice as a hybrid and expan-
sive practice that isn’t restricted in language, theme or technique. I like to blur the limits of language and tech-
MEDITATIONS ON THE BLUE
nique, so maybe I consider myself more experimental. My background is in visual arts, but I’ve always maintained interdisciplinary interests that heavily influenced my relationship with research in the arts.
I also danced for the Balé Folclórico de São Paulo (São Paulo Folkloric Ballet), which gave me a resourcefulness in understanding the relationship between the
body, movement, and spatiality. Playing in “Blocos Af-
Juliana Dos Santos | Photo by Hudson Rodrigues
ros” also helped me to understand music and the pos-
Black women who raised me and invested their hourly
Much of my understanding of color comes from the
My mother told me that the first person who called me
parsing of artistic languages is something that I don’t
was born, he told my mother that I would be an artist.
sibilities of sound as a soundscape.
patchwork quilts that my mother made. So, for me, this really sense [in my work].
How did you become an artist and why? I was born and raised in the majority Black neighbor-
hood of Parque Peruche in Casa Verde in the North
work in my education and development.
an artist was the doctor who delivered me. Before I
My mother always jokes that I took his prophecy seri-
ously. My interest in the arts has been expressed since I was very young, I always drew easily, and my uncle also taught me.
Zone of São Paulo. This region has a significant concen-
When I was six, my mother put me in a drawing school,
with the streets of my neighborhood. Art in relation to
throughout my school career, I always stood out in art
tration of samba schools, so my universe of art starts
musicality, dance, costumes and sculptures in samba are routine in the streets.
I am the granddaughter of Dita, a domestic and the
recently deceased, Dina, a seamstress and the first in
her family to graduate from college. I present myself as an artist, as a result of the work and care that all of the
LEFT: Closeup of Clitoria | Courtesy of the artist
and I remember it was an important process, because
classes for the drawings I made. I think it was a family project, even though my family is not very aware of it. I was always encouraged to express myself creatively,
dishcloth painting with my paternal grandmother, for example, was how I learned colors.
I had a high school teacher who was very fond of my
#WEAREBLACKCULTURE | SUGARCANEMAG.COM
29
work and very encouraging, and that was important be-
Can you speak more about your Blue project?
had very low self-esteem. Afterward, I was an assistant
ixam/Deixo Esquecer” (Don’t Let Me/Let Me Forget) is
cause as one of the only Black students in the school, I
“Entre o Azul” (Between the Blue) and “Não Me De-
set designer at Jorge Constantino’s studio, which gave
a project I started in 2018 during my residency at the
me a basis to get into University. I got my degree in visual arts from the Unesp Institute of Arts in São Paulo.
I became a professional artist once I graduated and
Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. It deals with attempts to negotiate my desires with the numerous demands of my reality.
started participating in exhibitions. Since the begin-
I was tired of being used as the “Black Artist from the
professionals who have been attentive and interested
of the white and hegemonic institutions—when in real-
ning, I have been able to count on a network of critical
Global South” who represented the decolonial token
“Invitations always came with a political, engaged or stereotypical theme of me talking about my condition as a Black woman, as if this was my only possible mediation with the world.” —Juliana Dos Santos
Experiência Azul | Valongo Festival | 2019 | Courtesy of the artist
Blackness. I had already presented a performance proj-
of generational reckoning. I challenged her to fulfill her
to justify my work and its importance.
accepted. I was raised with her, and there was always
ect on Blue; I was consistently interrogated and forced
In my performance, I invited the public to eat and drink
the blue part of the edible flower, Clitória Ternátea. I
to wear my hair natural, calling it ugly and said I had to
ity my art and my presence were being used to assuage
the color blue.
Having the space to be able to exchange ideas has
white artists could talk about everything, they could be more experimental and present work with any theme.
learning from artists, the public, curators, and I am
I realized that for me and other racialized artists it was
intend to follow.
engaged or stereotypical theme of me talking about
learning more about my own work and which paths I
What do you want American readers to know about your work? I want them to simply see my work. I am an Afro-Latina artist; and a Black Brazilian Paulistina.
30
in various conversations and reflections I had made on
in the evolution of my work.
In this sense, I think that becoming an artist came from
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2019 | ISSUE ONE
different—the invitations always came with a political,
my condition as a Black woman, as if this was my only possible mediation with the world. This has frequently happened with white curators.
At the end of the performance, a group of non-white
people approached me very sensitively and began to tell me a series of blue memories, blue experiences,
senses, and desires. The color blue takes a metaphoric sense for Black people throughout the diaspora,
whether it be the blues music of Black Americans or the blues used in Black Brazilians’ imagery. This became the basis of my ongoing project.
define my work within their stereotypical demands for
family dispute. My grandmother questioned my choice be like the other girls with their hair long and straightened. But there was a contradiction—she was the one who always braided my hair and tended to it, using
Carqueja, an herb native to Southeast Brazil. The video
performance consisted of her straightening my hair with a hot iron comb and afterward me washing my hair with cold Carqueja tea returning it to its natural state.
I loved when you said, “if Black people hadn’t imagined before, we would still be in slavery.” Can you elaborate?
Can you speak about Qual e o Pente? Once at a festival in Belgium, the curator wanted me to
and my mother refused.
We fought a lot over my hair, and it was an ongoing
space with a series of blue reports that I had collected
been fundamental for me in finding my artistic path.
an impasse about my hair. She wanted to straighten it,
made the blue flower tea and tapioca and activated the Installation | Entre o Azul e o que não me Deixam/Deixo Esquecerr | 2019 | Photo courtesy of the artist
white guilt. I was feeling restricted. I observed that
desire to straighten my hair in an artistic action and she
Qual e o Pente is a video performance that I developed
with my maternal grandmother. I invited her as a kind
This is part of what I’ve been reflecting on recently— the importance of breaking negative paradigms for
Black and indigenous populations. The need to imag-
FEATURE | JULIANA DOS SANTOS
ine that more is possible for Black people is urgent not only in Brazil, but in many places around the world.
We cannot create what we haven’t visualized. The sky
isn’t the limit—it’s only the beginning. If I am here today and can talk about Blue and other things of life,
it’s because my great-great-grandparents dreamed
and worked so that one day their children’s lives would be better than theirs and so on. Living in an extremely
racist country that hides behind the myth of “racial
I believe self-criticism is critical to any artist’s work or
questioning the Black pres-
work to mature and develop, I think it’s important to
museums,
growth—but on its own, it isn’t enough. For an artist’s have critical perspectives committed to the advance-
ment of the quality of the artist. In thinking about groups of Black artists, critics, and curators—we need
to refer more to each other and contribute more to purposeful reflections through process follow-ups. Learning to listen to each other’s reading is critical. I think this
sort of thinking—of not critiquing ourselves—doesn’t
ence in the collections of cultural
galleries,
institutions
reverberated
and
have
throughout
the artist world. But we still have a way to go. We have
made significant progress in
“How many Black artists
tations about our identity,
are hired in general versus
increasing positive represenhistory, and memory.
just for exhibits related to
The existence of the Museu
Blackness? How are artists
tant milestone for what con-
being paid, how is their
Afro Brasil is also an imporstitutes Afro-Brazilian art. As
production valued?
an institution, it is respon-
sible for some fundamental
Conversations like this
porary art.
are still taboo.”
names in Brazilian contem-
I believe that conversations now need to turn to the
—Juliana Dos Santos Clitoria | 100 x 70 cm | 2017 | Courtesy of the artist
structure and working con-
ditions for Black art professionals. For example, how
many Black artists are hired in general versus just for
I also recognize that I am not building anything on my
paid, how is their production valued? Conversations
beginning, encouraged my potential through her cri-
exhibits related to Blackness? How are artists being like this are still taboo.
MANJAR | em tudo que vive, tudo que flui | Photo by Renato Mangolin
democracy” yet has the highest homicide rates of
Black youth and indigenous leaders is a challenge of absurd faith.
contribute to our growth as artists. As far as Black art, what are ways that you want our conversations to deepen?
In the current political imagination, Black death and
I think it’s difficult to define “Black art.” But I am very
ing and depicting ourselves fully as full people. And as
of Black contemporary artists on different continents
pain is common, but we must always commit to imaginElza Soares, the biggest voice in Brazil sang, “a carne mais barata do mercado foi a carne negra, não será mais” “the cheapest meat on the market was Black meat, but it won’t be anymore.”
interested in conversations about how the production
may be generating a change in art paradigms. Personally, I would like to get closer to other Black artists from different contexts and nationalities. What about in Brazil specifically?
I wanted to talk more about this idea that as Black art-
In Brazil, in the last ten years, we have had a massive
each other out of allegiance. Can you speak to this?
ments by Black artists and intellectuals that have been
ists and writers that we are expected not to critique
change in this regard. A series of actions and state-
What Afro-Brazilian artists have influenced your work? My biggest reference is Rosana Paulino. Meeting her made me realize that I wouldn’t be alone. A decisive
milestone to move forward in my practice was her presence during my performance, “Qual é o Pente?”
own. Fabiana Lopes was the curator who, from the tiques, observations, and questions.
Thiago de Paula invited me to my first international exhibition—a milestone at the beginning of my career.
Yêdamaria, Estevão Silva, Arthur Timótheo da Costa, Heitor dos Prazeres—all Black Brazilian artists—are also influences.
Other artists in the diaspora? Rosana is one of our country’s greatest visual artists,
a Black woman who’s opened the door for all of us to come through. She’s always been a reference for the way that she brings forth poetic reflections on being a
I have been following Kara Walker and Lorna Simpson for quite some time.
Where would you like to go
Black woman, thus giving me a point of reference for
with your work in the future?
like her gave me the possibility of imagining myself as
the world, circulating in various places and connecting
seeing myself as an artist. Seeing a Black woman artist
In children’s art books, in museums, in public spaces. In
one too.
with different cultures.
a r o p s a i D s e t No
BY DOMINIQUE CLAYTON
On July 29, 2019, the Los Angeles music scene lost a giant. Ras G, DJ and prolific beat maker passed away in his Leimert Park studio famously known as “Spacebase.” Spacebase, a small storefront-turnedstudio-apartment was a small place that put out a big sound. This is where Ras G honed his unique
SPOTLIGHT ON L.A.
J. MALAIKA “EAGLE NEBULA “ BECKFORD
brand of beats coined, “Ghetto Sci Fi” music.
Countless recording sessions took place with artists
from around the world, but the regulars Ras recorded
were a part of his Afrikan Space Program, an ever-changing roster of community-based rappers, poets and storytellers.
To record with Ras G was an experience in no-frills produc-
tion, there was no vocal booth or fancy mixing board. He took pride in his “lo-fi” approach to producing and recording, us-
ing a Radio Shack mic to record the handful of vocalists he felt complemented the mission of his Space Program.
His mantra “Music is a mission, not a competition” allowed for all of his collaborators to feel free to experiment with music and to express from the heart. Recording his beats using a Ro-
land 404 sampler, an MPC and Garage Band, he never fussed
over fancy production tools or the newest tech. He believed in using what you had to make what you needed to express yourself. Although he never reached commercial success, he cultivated a worldwide cult following.
Ras G’s commitment to create a sound outside of the mainstream falls in line with the musical legacy of so many musicians who called the Leimert Park music scene their home. His
expansive and eclectic record collection quickly put him on the map as one of the best DJs in Los Angeles, often seam-
lessly blending hip-hop with rare Afrobeat and jazz. When he turned to beat production, his unique sound quickly gained him devout fans, with records released on independent reJ. Malaika Beckford and Ras Gand Kahil | Photo by Eric Coleman
cord labels in Los Angeles and Europe.
As an artist rooted in Leimert Park, Ras G modeled
Herbie Hancock to Sunny Rollins.
long-standing legacy of musicians who made music
A major part of the 1950s LA jazz scene, where he
ative intention. He got his start at Project Blowed,
found himself at the helm of the Free Jazz move-
the musicians who came before him, continuing a with community and culture at the root of their crethe hip-hop workshop held at Ben Cadwell’s Kaos Network on Thursday nights during the late 90s and
early 2000s, which birthed some of Los Angeles’ most innovative hip-hop artists including Freestyle
Fellowship, Medusa and Ski-L—all legends of LA’s rap underground. At Kaos, much like at Spacebase,
artists were encouraged to hone their craft and become masters, adding their distinct mark to the
played with the Ornette Coleman quartet, Higgins ment, which stretched sonic boundaries beyond
what was deemed acceptable and commercially viable. Still, the LA native had the most pride in found-
ing The World Stage in a small storefront on Degnan Boulevard in Leimert Park with poet Kamau Daáood,
whose poetry influenced generations of Black writers from Los Angeles and continues to do so.
legacy of Black art from Los Angeles.
Similar to Higgins, Horace Tapscott believed in
The musicians of Leimert Park demonstrate Afrofu-
tive. In the 1960s, he put together an ensemble of
turism as a movement of advancing Black creativity by not playing to or for mainstream acceptance, but for an artistic output that is true to the complex nature of Black diasporic culture. The music and creative acts of Sun Ra are the template for this move-
ment because of his commitment to a sound and aesthetic that was uniquely anti-pop, anti-bop and out-of-the-box.
Listeners have to adjust to Afrofuturist melodies as
making music that was contributive, not competimusicians, poets, storytellers and cartoonists in LA,
which he called The Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra.
This ensemble was directly inspired by Sun Ra’s Arkestra and the idea of Black music as space for exploration, freedom and expression.
Spanning 40 years, more than 300 musicians played
with the Arkestra, always having at least three gen-
they are meant to transport you out of the socially
The musicians of Leimert Park demonstrate
rofuturist sound is to find the beauty in the abstract,
Afrofuturism as a movement of advancing
lates to the Black experience.
Black creativity by not playing to or for
accepted rhythm and groove. The goal of the Afthe off-key, the unpretty, which metaphorically re-
Sun Ra exemplified this with his ever-changing
mainstream acceptance, but for an artistic
Arkestra and Ras G continued this legacy with his
output that is true to the complex nature
scott and Billy Higgins created a fertile ground for
of Black diasporic culture.
Afrikan Space Program. Village elders Horace Tapthis legacy to thrive in Leimert Park.
In 1988, world-renowned drummer Billy Higgins founded The World Stage as a place where people
could learn, love and be uplifted by music. Higgins holds the title as the world’s most-recorded musi-
cian after serving as the house drummer of Blue Note records for many years, and you can find his name in the credits of endless classic albums by
erations onstage. Many who played with Tapscott also played with Ra. At 18 years old, Kamau Daáood
became one of the poets in the Arkestra. Now, at 70, he continues to give back to the community through poetry readings and performances at The
World Stage along with Dwight Tribble, a lead vocalist in the Arkestra.
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Where history meets hospitality... Holding Court: Saidiyah Hartman and Christina Sharpe | Courtesy of The Underground Museum | Photo by Christel Robleto.
In the 1990s in Los Angeles, it was not rare to see and
of giving back to their communities as well. As such,
jazz riffs of Tribble or to experience Tapscott’s Arkes-
important as the art that emerged from them. These
hear the poetry of Kamau Daáood, hear the unique tra at a local hip-hop festival or block party. The Ark,
or Orchestra, became a device of cultural preservation, where each artist recognized the importance
of musical and storytelling culture outside the realm
spaces from The World Stage to Spacebase have directly influenced Leimert Park artists’ worldview and art practice.
of capitalism.
Throughout August 2019, citywide celebrations were
The goal was always, by the people, for the people.
vinyl records and samplers, rappers spit verses they
The radical expression in Tapscott’s music made it the
soundtrack of choice for the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panthers and continues to inspire Los Angeles-based musicians such as Kumasi Washington and Steven “Thundercat” Brunner.
Throughout this mode of creating from the Afrofutur-
ist perspective, ideas of Arks and spaceships become hubs where freedom can be cultivated and thrive. Historically, artists of Black LA have created work that is relevant to their communities, but also have a legacy
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the gathering spaces of the Black LA art scene are as
SUGARCANE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2019 | ISSUE ONE
held to honor Ras G. DJs played abstract beats from recorded with him, friends and family shared memories and loving words.
Each celebration opened with an invocation based in Free Jazz, where percussionist Carlos Nino led a
large group of improvising musicians, while Leimert
Park vocal legend Dwight Tribble sang chants. Sonically, the blend sounded like a gathering and
homage to Ras G, offering both thanks for his contribution and a declaration that they will continue his legacy to the future.
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NEGRO MONALISA BY SUSANA BAKER
Patience, practice, and
ing from this brutal beat-
Arinze Stanley one of the
draw and create images
persistence have made
She is a portrayal of how today’s society perceives the African
hides her true born beauty, while adapting to the alien society; she sits
woman; hidden behind the public-spirited visage is an individual
complacent, but cover her smile and look into her eyes—they mirror
seeking completion. She is in handcuffs that seem almost invis-
her erased soul.
ible, and this represents how society has her bound by forcing her to adapt to an unfamiliar culture. By borrowing beauty from
She hides in a foreign cloak, overwhelmed by this society that has,
foreigners, she hides her own.
somehow, managed to erase her culture and history; overwhelmed in the darkness of her background that has been erased. Nigerian hy-
From her hair wrapped in a traditional African wrap, while
perrealist artist Arinze Stanley chooses to leave the hands incomplete,
displaying Caucasian straight hair so that society will accept her, she
as to show that she is still under construction, seeking completion.
ing, Arinze began to
best hyperrealism art-
that resonated with the
ists in today’s art market.
voices of painful conver-
Self-taught using the pri-
sations, in a style that
mary medium of pencil
would hauntingly mes-
and paper, he has pro-
merize the viewer.
duced some of the most
incredible hyper-realistic
This led to one of his
stupefied, positing that
titled, Wailing, Wailing
work that leaves one
most important artworks
what one is viewing is not
and Wailing, where a
a drawing, but indeed
triple image of a young
a photograph.
African man in bondage
trying to free himself
Stanley will spend up to
contains a barcode at the
400 hours working on
bottom, the same sym-
a drawing, sometimes losing himself in the cre-
ation process, such that
bol used to code com-
modities and products
Negro Monalisa | Arinze Stanley | 2019
time stands still. Arinze at a young age would accom-
pany his father to an envelope factory his family owned. Struggling through economic hardship, Arinze did not have toys growing up, so he spent endless hours entertaining himself by drawing.
Arinze found purpose in his drawings, and soon his art became a voice for his people and for those fleeing
to be sold. The numbers
to the bar code, converted to the alphabet, read, “we will live.”
On invitation in 2017, Arinze Stanley was invited to Art Basel in Miami. He was fortuitous when a collector
spotted Wailing, Wailing and Wailing, and paid Arinze $20,000.00.
from oppression, poverty, and hunger, forfeiting their
This drawing now hangs in a beautiful mansion in Los
witnessed the migration of thousands of Africans try-
ment: happy his work would be displayed in a beauti-
homes in search of a better life. In 2016, the world
ing to cross into Europe. As they embarked on their freedom journey, many were intercepted and captured to be sold as slaves.
Angeles. For Arinze Stanley it was a bittersweet moful home and yet saddened with the reality that young
African men and women still struggle with the reality that many will live their lives in bondage.
Arinze could not fathom the thought of humans be-
Arinze Stanley returned for Art Basel 2018 at the Prizm
derstand how important it was to be a voice using his
clude the “Worlds” Best Self Portrait in American Art
ing traded as commodities, and soon he began to unart. Stanley decided to become a full-time artist when,
in the same year, he encountered a case of mistaken identity. Misidentified by Nigerian military soldiers, a
Art Fair, in downtown Miami. Awards he has won inin 2017 and a Cultural Achievement award in Junior Chambers International in 2018.
knock to his door resulted in his being flogged, kicked
For information on Arinze, visit www.arinzestanley.com
screams of his sister. From his hospital bed, recover-
event and fairs, go to www.artbaseltours.com
and sustaining many injuries, eventually freed by the
— For information on Miami Art Week or the Art Basel
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