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Left: Photo by Cheryl R. Riley | Right: Photo by Benny Riley
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Dear Readers,
Your thoughtful messages during my encounter with Covid cheered my spirits and helped to speed my recovery. Thank you.
Fond recollections of prior art experiences such as the wonderfully extraordinary Jean Michel Basquiat exhibit presented by his family at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea and the four floors at the New Museum’s beautifully installed retrospective for the magnificent, Faith Ringgold surely assisted. The Wife and I were unaware we were being photographed for the Museum’s series on Visitors while being mesmerized by one of her masterpieces. As you read this newsletter, we are into our journey to Europe with a stop at one of my favorite cities, Venice, for the Biennale and then onto North Africa. I looking forward to sharing our adventures on my Instagram account @cherylrriley.
MY WORKS ON PAPER ARE ON SHOPIFY
My Shopify account features works on paper including unlimited editions of Kaleidoscopes and Oracle Decks and limited edition "He Was No Angel" and "Black Live Mattered" limited edition prints. Because the first edition of Black Lives Mattered prints from my United Tennis Association commission sold out so quickly, I have created a new edition in a different dimension.
Works on paper include:
KALEIDOSCOPES that are transformations of individual Glyphs on Pages of a 1957 Encyclopedia painted with gouache and ink. Three of the Kaleidoscopes will be featured on a new show, "Unprisoned" starring Kerry Washington on who’s psychiatrist office walls they will hang.
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BLACK LIVES MATTERED, 2022 (Limited edition print)
Due to popular demand and the quick sell out of the first edition, I have chosen to produce a new edition in a new size. The letters are composed of names of brave and brilliant individuals of African descent who have essentially been erased from American History. They were brilliant, valiant, and major contributors to all that America’s Constitution aspires to be. 19” x 13” with a one inch border around the 17” x 11” image. Edition of 50 + 2 Artists Proofs
KALEIDOSCOPES
The kaleidoscope series are round digital mutations derived from the Glyph paintings on 1957 encyclopedia pages. Each piece identifies as a unique fingerprint offering a still in-between images between the paintings and Mandala series of moving images. From physical hand paintings to virtual works, the fragmentation of the Glyphs are optical counterparts of a whole image which repeats symmetrically into a circle. The images are complete works of art and insinuates a fractal of the looking glass that shape shifts in color and images.
HE WAS NO ANGEL
A contemplation of how rationalization covers up too much wickedness in America’s discourse on cultural, political and Police brutality, unaccountability and laws that are lawless.
ORACLE DECK
The oracle deck was called into existence during my all female-identified artist residency, Rites of Passages curated by Pooja Prema. This transformation was suggested by the intern, Nevah Waldron after observing other artists visting my space, The Soul Kitchen. Many would focus on a particular Glyph on Pages of a 1957 Encyclopedia that covered the walls and cabinets and ask me their definition. Artists the queried were always amazed. They would then share a personal story or experience that tied them to that particular Glyph's definition. Unlike Tarot Cards, you are the interpreter of the answers to your questions.
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The commission to create artwork for the Arthur Ashe Stadium seats is both an honor and opportunity perfectly suited to my mission as an Artist and Educator. I am humbled to be a contributor to this national conversation before an international audience and to the actions sparked by the BLACK LIVES MATTER movement initiated by three courageous and generous women. I am an avid proponent for shining a light on American (not Black) History that has been erased from our national narrative and education curriculums. My piece unearths just a few names of the brave and brilliant individuals whose accomplishments represented ‘firsts’ for African Americans. They, and others I included, overcame undemocratic, racist and/or sexist barriers and are the beacons of liberty, justice, and freedom that the United States is to the world. My hope is that their names will spark conversations and deeper investigations that lead to appreciation, inclusion, and respect
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I am truly grateful for the Black Artists + Designers Guild (BADG) for selecting my concept piece SANCTUARY: A Space for Meditation, Grieving, and Worship to be part of OBSIDIAN.
Obsidian is a virtual concept house launched by the BADG incubator in January 2021. It represents the organization’s inaugural initiative, designed to invite new conversations about the space of home as a place of thriving for one million Black families. The first iteration, Obsidian 1.0, was conceived and designed collectively by 23 BADG creators and two rising stars, predicated on seven core values: Wellness, Identity, Sustenance, Terra, Legacy, Dwelling, and Ancestral Futures. Guided by the belief that Black futures are equitable, sustainable, and liberatory, we have created a virtual space that manifests our collective imaginings.
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THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF INTERIOR DESIGNERS NATIONAL AWARDS
June 27, 2022 – Washington, D.C.) – The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) has announced the recipients of the organization's highest honors: the 2022 National Awards and the College of Fellows. The honorees will be recognized at GATHER, the National Conference by the American Society of Interior Designers, Sept. 21–24, 2022, in Miami, FL.
The National Awards recognize four design companies or individuals for their work and careers dedicated to furthering the interior design practice and changing the world in one of four distinct categories. The winners of the awards are Designs for Dignity, Design for Humanity; The Obsidian Virtual House by the Black Artists + Designers Guild, Design Innovation; Katherine S. Setser, Design Luminary; and Jocelyn M. Stroupe, Designer of Distinction.
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