Cerebral Women Art Talks Podcast Phyllis Hollis

Ep.199 Luke Agada is a Nigerian artist living and working in Chicago. His practice examines themes of globalization, migration and cultural dislocation within the framework of a postcolonial world, as he reflects on the African diaspora and its impact on neo-cultural evolution. He obtained an MFA in Painting and drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2023. In recent years, Agada has participated in shows in Lagos, New York, Chicago, Beijing, Accra, Berlin, Casablanca. His work has been featured in several publications including Newcity Magazine, Culture type, The Pinch Journal publication at the University of Memphis, Tennessee, Nigeria Art archives, Juxtapoz, Whitewall. He has also been a recipient of various awards and fellowship including the Global warming international art prize, AII, New Yorkin 2020, Janet and Russell Doubleday Award at The Art Students league of New York in 2022, The Helen Frankenthaler Award in 2022 and The James Nelson Raymond Fellowship Award in 2023. Agada was Resident Fellow at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in 2023. He was recently named a 2024 Breakout Artist by NewCity Magazine and is currently a Teaching Fellow at the Painting and Drawing Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL. 

Photo: Courtesy The Artist and moniquemeloche Chicago, IL.  
Artist https://lukeagada.com/
moniquemeloche https://www.moniquemeloche.com/artists/208-luke-agada/biography/
Newcity 2024 https://art.newcity.com/2024/04/02/breakout-artists-2024-chicagos-next-generation-of-image-makers/
Newcity 2023 https://www.newcity.com/2023/10/04/today-in-culture-october-4-2023-report-says-arts-sector-not-so-healthy-equity-jeffs-love-goodman-chicago-is-still-the-best-says-conde-nast-traveler/
School of The Art Institute of Chicago https://sites.saic.edu/gradshow2023/artists/luke-agada/
Culture Type https://www.culturetype.com/2023/10/12/latest-news-in-black-art-luke-agada-joined-monique-meloche-gallery-new-atlanta-art-fair-black-studies-x-art-history-more/
La voce di New York https://lavocedinewyork.com/en/new-york/2023/09/16/luke-agada-arms-feet-and-fitful-dreams-at-monique-meloche-gallery/ 
Artsy https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-6-rising-artists-discovered-galleries-summer-group
The Artists Feature https://theartistsfeature.com/features/luke-agada

Ep.198 Allison Janae Hamilton (b. 1984 in Kentucky, raised in Florida) has exhibited widely across the U.S. and abroad. Her work has been the subject of institutional solo exhibitions at the Georgia Museum of Art, the Joslyn Art Museum, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), and Atlanta Contemporary, as well as a commissioned solo project with Creative Time. Her sculpture, Love is like the sea… (2023) is currently on view in the Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition, presented by The Helis Foundation in New Orleans, LA. Select recent group exhibitions include The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Shifting Horizons, Nevada Museum of Art; Enunciated Life, California African Art Museum; More, More, More, TANK Shanghai; and Indicators: Artists on Climate Change, Storm King Art Center. Work by the artist is held in public collections such as the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Hood Museum of Art, The Menil Collection, Nasher Museum of Art, Nevada Museum of Art, and Speed Museum of Art, among others. Hamilton has participated in a range of fellowships and residencies, including at the Whitney Independent Study Program, New York, NY; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY; and Fundación Botín, Santander, Spain. She is the recipient of the Creative Capital Award and the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant. Hamilton holds a PhD in American Studies from New York University and an MFA in Visual Arts from Columbia University. She lives and works in New York.

Portrait: Heather Sten

Artist https://www.allisonjanaehamilton.com/
Marianne Boesky Gallery https://marianneboeskygallery.com/artists/60-allison-janae-hamilton/press/
Storm King Art Center https://indicators.stormking.org/allison-janae-hamilton/
Georgia Museum of Art https://georgiamuseum.org/exhibit/allison-janae-hamilton-between-life-and-landscape/
University of Georgia https://www.wuga.org/show/museum-minute/2022-10-28/museum-minute-allison-janae-hamilton
Nasher Museum of Art https://nasher.duke.edu/stories/allison-janae-hamilton-floridawater-ii-sisters-wakulla-county-fl-and-when-the-wind-has-teeth/
Helis Foundation https://www.thehelisfoundation.org/pcse/love-is-like-the-sea...
Pippy HouldsworthGallery https://www.houldsworth.co.uk/exhibitions/140-tales-of-soil-and-concrete-brett-goodroad-allison-janae-hamilton-yun-fei-ji-arturo/works/
The Highline https://www.thehighline.org/art/projects/allison-janae-hamilton/
Contemporary Art Library https://www.contemporaryartlibrary.org/artist/allison-janae-hamilton-6327
Artpil https://artpil.com/allison-janae-hamilton/
The Clark https://www.clarkart.edu/microsites/humane-ecology/about-the-artists/allison-janae-hamilton
UGA Today https://news.uga.edu/nature-is-at-the-center-of-allison-janae-hamiltons-work/
Rema Hort Mann Foundation https://www.remahortmannfoundation.org/allison-janae-hamilton/
Ogden Museum https://ogdenmuseum.org/event/florida-stories-a-conversation-with-author-lauren-groff-and-visual-artist-allison-janae-hamilton/
Kids Kiddle https://kids.kiddle.co/Allison_Janae_Hamilton
WWD https://wwd.com/feature/allison-janae-hamilton-marianne-boesky-gallery-art-exhibition-1234792142/
Whitewall Art https://whitewall.art/art/allison-janae-hamilton-interrogates-myths-around-landscape-and-stories-of-paradise/
Whitewall Art https://whitewall.art/whitewaller/allison-janae-hamilton-a-romance-of-paradise/
Where y’at https://www.whereyat.com/allison-janae-hamilton-lauren-groff-florida-new-orleans
The Bitter Southerner https://bittersoutherner.com/summer-voices/aunjanue-ellis/allison-janae-hamilton
C& https://contemporaryand.com/exhibition/allison-janae-hamilton-a-romance-of-paradise/
The University of Texas at Austin
https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/items/3f37e356-f2a7-4f3b-a9d4-7614ddfac848
Urban Milwaukee https://urbanmilwaukee.com/people/allison-janae-hamilton/

Ep.197 Peter Uka (b. 1975,Nigeria; lives and works in Cologne, Germany) devises figurative paintings which draw from his childhood memories of Nigeria. With a classical training in realistic figuration Uka combines various image references of time specific objects with images from his memory to convey innate and timeless human emotion.  Scenes of growing up in Nigeria, including elements like afro hair styles and bell-bottom jeans, bright mannerisms, and local customs are captured in vibrant, visual narrative.  His compositions also capture international trends from the late 20th century and the ways globalization connects countries around the world. These narratives uncover historical precedents of globalization and dynamic cultural signifiers connecting two countries that Uka calls home, while reminding the rest of the world of collective reciprocity, closeness, and connection.  Uka completed his studies in2017 at the  Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf (Germany) and has exhibited at National Museum Onikan(Lagos, Nigeria), Haus der Kunst (Munich, Germany),  Kunsthaus  Mettman (Germany) and DIDI Museum(Lagos, Nigeria). His work has been shown at the Flag Art Foundation and is included in collections such as the Long Museum.  

Portrait of Peter Uka by Kai Schmidt. Courtesy of Mariane  

Marian Ibrahim  https://marianeibrahim.com/press/247-peter-uka-galerie-magazine/
Financial Times https://marianeibrahim.com/press/115-peter-uka-financial-times-weekend/
Long Museum https://marianeibrahim.com/news/89-being-in-the-world-peter-uka-i-long-museum/
Flag Art Foundation https://marianeibrahim.com/news/68-peter-uka-remembrance-peter-uka-the-flag-art-foundation/
Colossal  https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/03/peter-uka-portraits/
Culture Type https://www.culturetype.com/2022/01/12/longing-new-paintings-by-peter-uka-channel-fond-memories-of-nigeria-this-for-me-is-a-moment-in-time-a-time-when-all-was-well-all-was-good/
Newcity Art https://art.newcity.com/2022/01/10/unapologetically-authentic-a-review-of-peter-uka-at-mariane-ibrahim/
It’s Nice That https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/peter-uka-art-080421
African Digital Art  https://www.africandigitalart.com/on-painting-nigerian-contemporary-artist-peter-uka/
Galerie Magazine https://galeriemagazine.com/5-must-see-exhibitions-see-paris-month/
The Jealous Curator https://thejealouscurator.substack.com/p/art-delivery-112323
WhiteWall https://whitewall.art/art/best-paris-exhibitions-art-imitating-life/
Juxtapoz  https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/magazine/features/peter-uka-abc-to-xyz/
Metal Magazine https://metalmagazine.eu/en/post/peter-uka
W Magazine https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/peter-uka-longing-mariane-ibrahim-gallery-interview
Artnet https://www.artnet.com/artists/peter-uka/

Ep.196 Jacob Mason-Macklin lives and works in Queens, New York. Mason-Macklin graduated from the Columbus College of Art & Design in 2017. He is a 2016 alumnus of the Yale-Norfolk Summer School of Art and a 2019 alumnus of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
In 2021-2022, Mason-Macklin was an Artist-in Residence at The Studio Museum in Harlem, Harlem, New York, USA. Recent exhibitions include: “Underground” at Mamoth Gallery in London, UK (2023), “The Future Won't Be Long Now” at SOMEDAY, Lower Manhattan, New York, USA (2023), and “It’s Time For Me To Go” at MOMA PS1, Long Island City, New York, USA (2022-2023).
A dou-exhibition with artist Ryan Huggins at Page gallery, New York, USA (2021). “Soul Procession” at Interstate Projects, Brooklyn, New York, USA (2020). “Pure Hell” at No Place Gallery in Columbus, Ohio, USA (2020); “Bounty” with Cudelice Brazelton at the Jeffrey Stark Gallery in New York, USA. Curated by Amanda Hunt (2017).

Photo credit for headshot: Ally Caple

Studio Museum Harlem https://www.studiomuseum.org/artists/jacob-mason-macklin
MoMA https://www.moma.org/slideshows/626
MAMOTH https://www.mamoth.co.uk/exhibitions/42/installation_shots/image1586/
MAMOTH https://www.mamoth.co.uk/blog/47-watch-jacob-mason-macklin-s-residency-journey-in-london/
Art Rabbit https://www.artrabbit.com/events/jacob-masonmacklin-underground
Artfacts https://artfacts.net/exhibition/jacob-mason-macklin:-underground/1143681
Art Viewer https://artviewer.org/jacob-mason-macklin-at-mamoth/
Page NYC https://page-nyc.com/exhibitions/jacob-mason-macklin
Jeffrey Stark https://www.jeffreystark.nyc/project/cudelice_brazelton_jake_mason_macklin/

Ep.195 Connie Butler is the Director of MoMA PS1 in New York. Prior to her arrival in September 2023, since 2013, she was Chief Curator at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles where she organized numerous exhibitions including the biennial of Los Angeles artists Made in LA (2014); Mark Bradford: Scorched Earth (2015); Marisa Merz:
The Sky Is a Great Space (2017); Lari Pittman: Declaration of Independence (2019); and Witch Hunt (2021). She also co-organized with MoMA, Adrian Piper: A Synthesis of Intuitions which opened at the Hammer in October 2018. From 2006-2013 she was the Robert Lehman Foundation Chief Curator of Drawings at The Museum of Modern Art, New York where she co-curated the first major Lygia Clark retrospective in the United States (2014) and On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century (2010) in addition to Greater New York (2010) and Mike Kelley (2013) at MoMA PS1. Butler also organized the groundbreaking survey WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution (2007) at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles where she was curator from 1996-2006. In 2020 Butler received the Bard College Audrey Irmas Award for Curatorial Excellence.

Photo credit: Tag Christof

MoMA https://press.moma.org/news/moma-ps1-announces-new-director/
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelia_Butler
NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/08/arts/design/moma-ps1-new-director-connie-butler.html
The Art Newspaper https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/05/10/connie-butler-moma-ps1-director-hammer-museum
Art Review https://artreview.com/connie-butler-to-direct-moma-ps1/
Whitewalls https://www.widewalls.ch/news-feed/moma-ps1-connie-butler-director
Hyperallergic https://hyperallergic.com/873871/moma-ps1-workers-urge-director-connie-butler-to-settle-a-fair-contract/
Hyperallergic https://hyperallergic.com/820809/who-is-connie-butler-the-new-director-of-moma-ps1/
Sun Valley Museum of Art https://svmoa.org/events/lectures-talks/2023-07-20/on-collecting-three-conversations-collector-as-curator
LA Times https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-05-08/commentary-staff-changes-at-the-ucla-hammer-museum
Center for Curatorial Leadership https://www.curatorialleadership.org/participants/ccl-program/cornelia-butler/
ARTnews https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/connie-butler-moma-ps1-director-1234667070/
WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution https://www.moca.org/exhibition/wack-art-and-the-feminist-revolution
Mark Bradford Exhibition https://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2015/mark-bradford-scorched-earth
UCLA/ Hammer Museum https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/hammer-museum-connie-butler

Ep.194 Tiana Webb Evans is the Founder ESP Group LLC, a brand strategy and communications consultancy supporting international clients across art, design, and hospitality industries. She is also the founder and creative director of Yard Concept, a cultural platform comprised of a digital journal, gallery, and ‘happenings’ dedicated to fostering consciousness through the engagement of art, design, and community; and most recently the founder of Jamaica Art Society an initiative designed to support Jamaican art professional and celebrate its visual arts legacy.

Tiana’s experience includes branding, communications, strategic planning, business development and cultural programming. Before launching ESP in 2014, Tiana served as the Communications Director at Phillips Auctioneers, a global corporation focused on the sale of Contemporary Art. As Vice President of the Hospitality and Real Estate group at Nadine Johnson & Associates she was responsible for a portfolio of clients working at the intersection of art, culture and business. Prior establishing a career in communications she was the Business Director of Studio Sofield, a celebrated architecture and design firm known for its work with Gucci Group and a host of notable luxury good brands.

In addition to her professional endeavors Tiana, writes about culture, advises and supports emerging artists, and shares her expertise by serving on the boards of Project for Empty Space, the Female Design Council, and Atlanta Art Week, and is on advisory committees for the Laundromat Project, Photo Fairs, and Art at a Time Like This.


ESP Group https://espgroup.global/
Yard Concept https://www.yard-concept.com/
Jamaica Art Society https://www.jamaicaartsociety.com/
Foundwork https://foundwork.art/guest-curators/tiana-webb-evans
Brooklyn Rail https://brooklynrail.org/contributor/Tiana-Webb-Evans
Artnet https://news.artnet.com/art-world/art-world-at-home-tiana-webb-evans-1972157
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/tianawebbevans/
Photo Fairs https://www.photofairs.org/newyork/tiana_webb_evans/
WhiteWall https://whitewall.art/art/art-mamas-community-essential-tiana-webb-evans/
Apartment Therapy https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/design-changemakers-2021-tiana-webb-evans-36866078
POW Arts https://www.powarts.org/events/2021/5/3/may-colleagues-amp-friends
Pin-Up Magazine https://archive.pinupmagazine.org/articles/tiana-webb-evans-on-african-american-home-life-in-art