BAIA Talks BAIA Talks

Najee & Jamaal Art Basel Week 2023 by BAIA Talks

Kevin Johnson came by the Black Art in America Gallery to open the Kindred exhibition and sat with your boy JBarber on the Noize! Kevin spent 20 years in the military and now embraces life as an artist. We talk about being an artist in the military and how he began this new phase of his life. Kevin tells us about the symbols in his work (hoodies, flowers, etc.), how he's incorporating technology into his practice, and the role of mentors like Thomas Blackshear in his development. Listen, subscribe, and share!



Episode topics include:

-Kindred exhibition at Black Art In America Gallery
-making art in the military
-new series of paintings with hoodies
-mentorship with Thomas Blackshear
-Knowing who you are as an artist
-using technology in his art practice
-publishing a comic book, Black Lion

In this BAIA Exclusive episode of Studio Noize, your boy JBarber discusses the attack on Black thought that's happening in Florida and around the country. This trend is not surprising, but still scary to imagine where it will lead. How long will it be before they also ban Black art and imagery? What should artists do to respond and fight back? Listen, subscribe, and share!\

Explore Elizabeth Catlett's influence with curator Humberto Moro. SCAD

Group exhibition
'ELIZABETH CATLETT: POINTS OF CONTACT'
SEPT. 23, 2021 - JAN. 30, 2022
Presented in the SCAD Museum of Art’s Evans Center for African American Studies, Elizabeth Catlett: Points of Contact is a long overdue exploration of the artist’s profound influence on artistic practice today. The group exhibition brings to view key prints and sculptures by Catlett (1915–2012) — a citizen of both the U.S. and Mexico — in conversation with contemporary works by living artists from both countries. In showcasing the work of contemporary Black American and Mexican artists with strong connections — sometimes direct references — to Catlett’s work, the exhibition demonstrates how the artist’s influences, concerns, and questions are very much alive in global contemporary culture and artistic practice, and highlights the ways in which her works advocate for the dignity of all humans.

Learn more at https://www.scadmoa.org/exhibitions/elizabeth-catlett-points-of-contact

Butter Art Fair held its Inaugural Black Art Fair Labor Day Weekend 2021. Hear thoughts from a local artists regarding what this means.

Visit Black Art In America Instagram and Facebook pages for images from the fair.

In this BAIA Talk exclusive, artist and photographer Todd Gray discusses his most recent exhibit, Matrix 186 (March 4 - July 18, 2021) and what inspires his work, with Faron Manuel, Independent Curator, and Tracy Ann Simmons, Miami Culture Maven.


Detailing his radical take on photography and assemblage, and countering mental colonialism through his art, Gray sheds light on his journey and what his art making practice entails.