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PRIZM Art Fair 2020 Examines African Diasporic Perspectives In Cinema and Contemporary Art

PRIZM Art Fair Highlights the Spectrum of African Diasporic Perspectives
Ajamu Kojo, Black Blood, No.1: In the spirit of John, Loula & Joanna Williams family, Entrepreneurs (2017). Mischtechnik on linen canvas72 x 96 x 4 in.182.9 x 243.8 x 10.2.
Courtesy artist and PRIZM Art Fair.

 

PRIZM Art Fair, now in its eighth year, will present 45 artists and 13 galleries representing countries across the African continent, the Caribbean and Americas, with a film series, curated exhibition and panel discussions exploring the intersections of contemporary art and global African film tradition. 

 

MIAMIPRIZM Art Fair – dedicated to exhibiting international artists from the African Diaspora–returns with its eighth edition, taking place from December 1 to 21, 2020. A VIP preview week will take place from November 24 to 30, 2020.

PRIZM Art Fair 2020 will be available for online viewing through the PRIZM Art Fair and Artsy.

Film screenings and panel talks will be available through the fair’s website. PRIZM Art Fair is presented in partnership with the Green Family Foundation and the Knight Foundation, with media partners Artsy and​ Sugarcane Magazine.

This year, PRIZM will present the work of 45 artists within a curated exhibition entitled Noir, Noir: Meditations On African Cinema And Its Influence On Visual Art curated and organized by William Cordova and Mikhaile Solomon.

Noir, Noir is inspired by Senegalese film director, producer and writer Ousmane Sembene who remarked of the importance of cinema, “I think cinema is needed throughout Africa because we are lagging behind in the knowledge of our own history. I think we need to create a culture that is our own.” COVID-19, the murder of Black people by police and continued demonstrations for racial equity have revealed the thinly-veiled transgressions that are ever present in society’s moral fabric—magnifying the need for the kind of cinema Sembene describes.

“African Diasporic communities have attempted repeatedly to blanket themselves from a host of incessant obstacles–systemic injustice, racism, economic disparity, gender inequality–while the goal post of progress stretched farther away with each giant leap made towards it,” says Mikhaile Solomon, Founder and Director of PRIZM Art Fair.

The loss of life of thousands of African descendants has heralded a mandatory denouncing of current and past atrocities committed against the global African community.

From this vantage point, PRIZM Art Fair revisits and contemplates the layered rendering of complex communal histories through the lens of African/Diasporic filmmakers past and present, seeking a deeper understanding of global African identity through evaluation of its intersections with contemporary visual art.

Noir, Noir will examine how these films have functioned as harbingers of global African/Diasporic liberation movements.

Noir, Noir references the African avant-garde film tradition as well as contemporary African/Diasporic filmmakers to explore how visual artists have created bodies of work inspired by narratives, aesthetics, cultural notes and social commentaries poetically rendered in the various cinematic modalities.

PRIZM’s programming includes thirteen gallery exhibitors across the United States, Caribbean and the African continent, representing 45 artists from 11 countries, including Barbados, Ethiopia, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Nigeria, Saint Maarten, South Africa and Trinidad.

Additionally, PRIZM will feature emerging Miami-based artists who are actively engaged in perpetuating the city’s growth as a cultural hub. These artists also address socio-political and cultural issues pertinent to the people of African descent in Miami and beyond.

PARTICIPATING GALLERIES

  • Band of Vices  (Los Angeles)
  • Calabar Gallery  (New York City)
  • Corentyne Cottage House  (New Orleans)
  • Dominique Gallery (Los Angeles)
  • Dyman Gallery (Stellenbosch, South Africa)
  • First Floor Gallery (Harare, Zimbabwe)
  • Galerie Myrtis  (Baltimore)
  • Melrose Gallery  (Johannesburg, South Africa)
  • Morton Fine Art (Washington, D.C.)
  • N’namdi Contemporary  (Miami)
  • Richard Beavers Gallery (New York City)
  • September Gray Fine Art  (Atlanta)
  • Suzie Wong Presents (Kingston, Jamaica)

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

PRIZM Art Fair will feature artworks by: Gavin Benjamin, Alicia Brown, Nyame Brown, Milena Carranza, Albert Chong, yanira collado, Sofía Córdova, Christa David, Francks Deceus, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Mark Fleuridor, David Gumbs, Versia Harris, LaToya Hobbs, Ariston Jack, Deborah Jack, Napoleon Jones-Henderson, Ajamu Kojo, N. Masani Landfair, Peter Wayne Lewis, Sthenjwa Luthuli, Jennifer Mack-Watkins, Franciso Maso, Jared McGriff, Wendell McShine, Trokon Nagbe, Aramis O’Reilly, Imo Nse Omeh, Dionis Ortiz, Charly Palmer,  Johanne Rahaman, Ato Ribeiro, Sheena Rose, Glenn Saffo, Kabuya Pamela Saffo, Onajide Shabaka, John Sims, Nyugen Smith, Shawn Theodore, Elechi Todd, Sephora Woldu, Ezra Wube, and Dominique Zinkpe.

View select artworks here.

PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS

  • Black Dealer Talk (BDT) Series: Basquiat |November, 2020 (Date & time TBA).

BDT highlights the unique challenges that Black dealers and curators face in the art industry, even when dealing with Black art. These talks are created to be informative and share a behind-the-scenes perspective on art dealing. BDT will stream on the PRIZM website and is hosted by ​Stevenson Dunn, Jr. and Erwin John, directors of The Bishop Gallery in Brooklyn, NY.

  • PRIZM Projects Give Miami Day Campaign | November 19 – 20, 2020, 12:00 am – 12:00am.

PRIZM Projects participates in its third Miami Foundation Annual Give Miami Day event, the biggest annual giving event in the Southeast United States.

Visit PRIZM’s Give Miami Day profile throughout the 24hour giving event and donate to support PRIZM Projects and PRIZM’s cultural programming. Contributions of $25 or more will be matched by the Miami Foundation.

Donations will support PRIZM’s exhibition programming, PRIZM Fellowship program fostering arts and arts administration education through a six-month apprenticeship with PRIZM, and the growth and outreach of the annual art fair.

  • PRIZM VIP Preview November 24 to 30, 2020.

Registered VIP patrons will receive early access to view PRIZM on Artsy. Three tiers of VIP registration are available. All VIP patrons will receive a VIP package by US Mail that includes a catalog and bottle of wine to partake in the virtual PRIZM Preview VIP Dinner, scheduled for Nov. 30 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm.

To register for the PRIZM VIP program contact [email protected]

  • Virtual PRIZM Preview VIP Dinner | Nov. 30, 2020, 6:30 – 8:30 pm.

Available to registered VIP patrons only. To register for the PRIZM VIP program contact [email protected].

 

  • PRIZM General Preview | November 30, 2020.

Available through PRIZM Art Fair website and Artsy.

 

  • PRIZM General Opening | December 1, 2020.

Available through PRIZM Art Fair  and Artsy.

 

  • PRIZM Film Screening and Talks Schedule | December 3 to December 21, 2020, 5:30pm.

Additional details to be announced.

 

South Florida Caribbean News

The SFLCN.com Team provides news and information for the Caribbean-American community in South Florida and beyond.

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