Breathing While Black Digital Exhibition

This exhibit is part of the gallery’s 2020-21 theme entitled Healing Bodies. Because many of our bodies whether planetary, ideological, physical, cultural or otherwise, require attention, we have invited visual and performance works that offer new ways of viewing Wellness as defined by our artists.

Featuring works by over 50 artists from 17 countries, Breathing While Black is a juried digital visual art exhibition, inviting international response to the recent and ongoing slaughter of Black Americans. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic when the world suffers from the physical and psychological devastation of this plague, not only have Black people in the U.S. been disproportionately affected, but they also continue to be victims of hateful brut force: The police kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery while he was jogging, and of Breonna Taylor in her own home. These are only too reminiscent of the earlier murders of Eric Garner, Philando Castile, and Trayvon Martin. All are symbolic of a 400-year pattern. The countries represented by our bold and talented exhibiting artists including South Africa, Guyana, Chile, Mauritania, Haiti, Yugoslavia, Iran, Nigeria, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Pakistan, England, Cameroon, India, Togo, Dominican Republic, and U.S.

After carefully jurying somewhere around 350 images from, we settled on a little over 100. With a very definite focus to our invitation, it wasn’t until we witnessed the breadth of responses that we could really shape the exhibit. There is so much here. Some works are abstracted emotional responses. Others, hyper-realism. Some reference historical events while some are futuristic and mythical. There are cautionary tales told through the camera lens, ideological symbolism, and use of digital tools to create outrage. And of course, there are those images that will not let us forget the pain of this pandemic that further complicates and accentuates the horrors of racism. Our job as we viewed the entries was to not steer too far from the recent shootings of George Floyd and others referenced in the Call, but also to welcome artists’ emotional and intellectual responses to the larger condition of Black folks in America. By opting to include only the names of artists, titles and mediums of works we’ve offered a more egalitarian landscape. We have high school entries, international commentary, professional artists and those who don’t consider themselves as such. This is far more about capturing viewers’ minds and hearts through imagery and daring them to step up to the work at hand than it is about showcasing artist credentials.

Participating Artists
Marie Medjine Antoine
Aileen Bassis
Matthew Bollinger
William Burton Jr.
Alexandra Buxbaum
Ronaldo Byrd
Robert Castagna
Kikiya Kiara Basilio Crisostomo
Stanwyck Cromwell
Abdoul-Ganiou Dermani
Barry Olusegun-Noble Despenza
Ana Diaz
Kay Douglas
Danielle Demetria  East
Madge Evers
Sepideh Faramarzi
Soroush Farzin
Christopher Fluder
Maura Freeman
Chelvanaya B. Gabriel
Alen Ilijic
Jazzmin Imani
Ryan Jae
Pallavi Jain
Capt. James V
Mutòpe j. johnson
ken kamara
Carlie Mackenzie Kempf
Robert A. Ketchens
Sarah Landrum
Jesse Lane
Saleh Lo
Sherwin Long
James Loveless Jr.
Murk Malik
Cecilia Martinez
Jabulani Maseko
Scott Mayberry
Kirk Maynard
Rosemary Meza-DesPlas
Jason Montgomery
Steven Montinar
Terresa Moses
Jeff Musser
Juan Alberto Negroni
Nkosikhona Ngcobo
Ini Oluwa
Andre Pace
Carol Peebles
Thomas Pickarski
Dhan Prasad
Kelly Reilly
Emad Salehi
Gigi Salij
Keith Shepherd
Rochelle Shicoff
Shori Sims
Sarah Sipling
Whitney Stanley
Christine Keator Steele
Laura Sturtz
Christopher Sullivan
Eesha Suntai
L.G. TALBOT 
Oyelade Oyewole Tayo
B’Rael Thunder
INES TOLENTINO
T. Owens Union
Betsy van Die
Sam Wallace
Eddie Watkins
Lisa Whittington
Taylor N Wilson
Andrew Wohl
HILARY ZETLER
Dara Herman Zierlein