Calabar Gallery Newsletter

You can't sit around and wait for somebody to say who you are. You need to write it and paint it and do it - Faith Ringgold

No other creative field is as closed to those who are not white and male as is the visual arts. After I decided to be an artist, the first thing that I had to believe was that I, a black woman, could penetrate the art scene, and that, further, I could do so without sacrificing one iota of my blackness or my femaleness or my humanity. - Faith Ringgold

I just feel like I'm the luckiest person in the world being able to do what I love and be able to do it all day every day if I like, you know, I mean it's great, I love it. - Faith Ringgold

I watched Faith Ringgold on CBS last Sunday and it felt good to see her yet again at 90. It reminds me about what I am doing each and every day. She also reminded me of my Harlem neighbor Clara Vilarosa who at 90 stopped by the gallery on one of her daily walks to talk with me about what else I should be doing - then last week, she got back into the book business with this news. It told me - I have to work even harder. Geez, I told myself this week - use your time more effectively and work until you are 100. It is our elders that show us what is possible and these two women make me think deeply.

My Santa Fe trip was fantastic - Second Street Studios Art Walk in Santa Fe, New Mexico is up and running. Sometimes, you go to assist and lead with others. Best news from it - the Mayor of Santa Fe came. Happy to have him just saw up unannounced. I do things boldly sometimes - I invited him and he came to see it. Some progress - but I am reminded that Santa Fe is a smaller city, one that is very interested in investing in art and it is also election time. More importantly, I am hugely grateful for the artists that opened studios on short notice and for all who came to see work - and for some who bought. It makes a difference to move an idea into reality.

I started the ball rolling on another project of my good friend Celeste Beatty who owns Harlem Brewing Company. She's building a brewery and brewpub in Rocky Mount, North Carolina - Harlem Brew South and I helped launch her first crowd-funding campaign. Huge love for her and the work she is doing. And, I will be doing an exhibition in the Spring or earlier in the space. Cheers to 20 years of friendship and if you can help by donating funds for her campaign - please do, she is one of the only Black women owning a brewery in the US. So many long conversations with her - as Black Women - you need a number of friends who are in the battle of creating, running and maintaining a business - so many calls of between us - some many days of I just need to hear me - echoed - through the pain, the joy and the grueling - what else is happening now. Harlem was her goal and she tried so hard...but her life path took her to Rocky Mount.

The artist Sandra Payne left this universe. I spent many early mornings on Facebook with her - she shared my posts daily and I shared hers. For the last few months - those shares were not happening - I was silently worried. The universe was ever so brighter with her - I will miss her. She was scheduled for a show of her work later this year - I hope the gallery goes through with it. I first encountered her at the Studio Museum almost 25 years or so ago. She was an artist who worked at the New York Public Library...so as a reader and a bookworm, I loved to read what she would share many years later.

So, I am back and have been back in New York and hit the ground running to finalize the next exhibition and to close out the current one. The things about exhibition besides the beauty of the work is selling the work and every contact, communication, every interest and lead means follow-up. Our next exhibition, BLACK ARTISTS IN THEIR OWN REALM, was one conceived during covid-19, a group exhibition. I have begun to share the work on Instagram and some of it is simply spectacular. One piece by Ashley Joi, The Black Family Tree is one to collect immediately. In her own words:

The Black Family Tree speaks to the experience of the black citizen in the United States of America, serving as a representation of the African Ancestors who were transported into slavery in the United States and the Caribbean during the trans-atlantic slave trade.

We have sold several pieces of the show so far as we are slowly posting the work in the exhibition on Instagram before we put it up online. This exhibition will open July 29 and close September 5. Unusual times for galleries, August is typically slow and the gallery world is out of town and because of covid-19, it will be interesting to see what remains of that art schedule in the city.

Margaret Vendryes' The African Diva Project exhibition has been extended to this Saturday - to give more opportunity to see the work in person and also to allow for more sales. The interest in her work has been great to see and we would like to see the Divas in your home or in another gallery this year, so, if you are interested - please reach out to me at info@calabargallery.com.

I am extremely happy to return briefly to do a special Art Talks on July 19th with writer and author Nana Nkweti whose book got an amazing writeup in the New York Times . She is another amazing woman who I know from when she used to work with my brother on his magazine, The African, about 20 years ago. And most importantly - the David Prize Finalists were announced at the end of June. As an advisor to this prize - I am humbled by the people we selected from over 8000 people. In the midst of a global pandemic, New York City needs ideas and projects to make it better. These individuals have the tenacity to change the city.

This summer, I urge you to come and see us in the gallery, make it a point to see art. We have come out of dark days of covid-19, come and cautiously enjoy the city - we are still requiring masks as our policy.

As always, I urge you to take a look at our sale page today. Be healthy, safe and spread the word about our gallery.