INTROSPECTIVE: A RECKONING OF THE SOUL
On View Till Sunday, February 27, 2022
Curated by Marie Vickles with Meaghan Kent
Introspective: A Reckoning of the Soul presents the work of South Florida artists who invite us to collectively pause and look deeper into ourselves during this pivotal moment of social unrest in recognition of systemic injustices. This exhibition asks us to imagine what it looks like to embrace the layered and conflicting stories that have shaped our daily lives through the centering of our local communities, Black experiences, and histories. The purpose and power of art is one of connection, giving us the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of each other and ourselves. Introspective: A Reckoning of the Soul is an examination of the individual and the collective seeking to live a life that is worth the living. Through this exhibition program artists and audiences are joined in the question of how we have come to be in this place and time – and where do we go from here.
The work of featured artists become visual portals pulling from the contested and challenging truths of our shared human experiences. The transferring of energy into materials capable of sparking emotion, thought, and even action, is the magic that artists imbed into their work. These experiences with art spark the familiar and we can come to a deeper understanding of both the singular and universal aspects of life. Imagination and the desire to understand one’s self is integral in the process creating a world built on sustainable ideals and equitable understandings. This exhibition explores, through a variety of mediums and formats, how we can learn from our collective past in order to create new, beautiful futures. Art becomes the path of introspection, which provides a way for us to see the possibilities of what can be – while also acknowledging where we currently stand.
A reckoning with self and soul.
A moment of introspection.
The exploration of our inner-lives made visible.
- Text by Marie Vickles
Introspective: A Reckoning of the Soul will include a resource library and archival material from the "Race and Change" historical archive of cross-cultural race and ethnic relations oral histories. The archive was founded by Dr. Kitty Oliver. Oliver is an author, oral historian, media producer and professional singer.
Participating Artists
Adrienne Chadwick
Armando Zamora
Carolina Cueva
Emmanuel George
Errol Miller
John English
Keisha Rae Witherspoon
Khaulah Naima Nuruddin
Loni Johnson
Michiko Kurisu
Niki Lopez
Roscoè B. Thické III
Sophia Lacroix
Vanessa Charlot
Victoria Ravelo
william cordova
Yves Gabriel
The project also includes I felt your gaze upon me, I knew you were watching a site-specific installation by Miami-based artist Chire Regans (aka VantaBlack). Read Chire Regans' (aka VantaBlack) Bio. Regans’ drawings and installations are dedicated to community advocacy and activism. Regans graduated from Florida A&M University and is currently a resident at the Bakehouse Art Complex. She serves on the Miami-Dade Relations Board’s Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Committee. She is a recent recipient of the Ellies Social Justice Award. I felt your gaze upon me, I knew you were watching is presented in Gallery 3 and will be joined later with the Art and Culture Center’s newly commissioned Open Dialogues documentary short film Black Voices | Black Stories directed by Freddy Rodriguez
About Marie Vickles
Guest Curator Marie Vickles is the Curator-in-Residence at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex and Director of Education at the Perez Art Museum Miami. She has extensive knowledge about Black contemporary artists in South Florida as an independent curator, with work on over 30 exhibitions since 2003. She has administered and organized arts education programs, workshops, and exhibitions across the U.S. and Caribbean for over 15 years. In her work as an arts educator and cultural practitioner, Vickles seeks to develop new ways to bridge the connections between creativity and community engagement – with the goal of encouraging sustainability and access for all through the arts. She is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology (New York City) and Florida State University, with degrees in the visual arts and public administration, and a minor in education. She currently serves the City of Miami as a board member for the Arts and Entertainment Council.
Introspective: A Reckoning of the Soul is supported in part by the following Funds at the Community Foundation of Broward: Helen and Frank Stoykov Charitable Endowment Fund, Ruth H. Brown Fund for the Arts, Dot and Keith Cobb Fund, and Mary and Alex Mackenzie Community Impact Fund; and a grant from the BBX Capital Foundation. Chire Regans’ exhibition is funded in part by a grant from South Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
About Chire Regans (aka VantaBlack)
oolitearts.org/resident/chire-regans/ | @vantablack
Chire Regans, also known as VantaBlack, was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, and relocated to Miami with her family in the late 1980s. Her passion for art began soon after. After graduating from Florida A&M University, Regans began to focus primarily on drawing from life and portraiture. As societal issues began to weigh heavily on her conscience, a message took shape behind the imagery. The emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement pushed her art in the direction of social awareness and change. Regans has dedicated both her artistic practice and her life to community advocacy and activism.
The Memorial Portrait Project, on view at the Center, is a series that addresses the effects of gun violence and social inequity within families and communities. Regans’ hand-drawn white pencil on black paper drawings are created on an ongoing basis to give a face and a name to lives lost to systemic injustice. Regans has completed over 200 portraits since 2016.
Chire Regans was the 2020 Social Justice Ellies Award Winner, serves on the Miami-Dade Community Relations Board’s Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Committee, and works as a teaching artist at PAMM. She is a proud mother, visual artist, truth-teller, and community advocate.
Feb. 22, 2022 Facebook Live Artist Talk with
Chire Regans (aka VantaBlack)
About Adrienne Chadwick
adriennechadwick.com | @adriennechadwick
Adrienne Chadwick was born in Toronto, Canada, with origins in Belize, Central America, and lives and works in Hollywood, Florida. Her mixed-media installations utilize accumulation, repetition, and translucence to express ideas related to power and resistance, in society and nature. Select group exhibitions include: “In Tandem” (2021) and “Radio Silence” (2019) Far Gallery, Fort Lauderdale; “The Tree, Is the Porch, Is the Watering Hole” (2020) African American Research Library and Cultural Center, Fort Lauderdale; “Local Global Borderless Caribbean XII” (2020) Little Haiti Cultural Complex, Miami; “Clay” (2019) and “Concrete Jungle: Narrative of Presence” (2020) Bridge Red Studios, North Miami; “The Other Half of the Sky” (2019) Girls’ Club, Fort Lauderdale. Chadwick received a BFA from New World School of the Arts and an MPA from Nova Southeastern University.
About Emmanuel George
@blackbroward | @blackorchidfoundation
Born in Overtown, Florida, in 1988, Emmanuel George spent his childhood years in North Miami and Miami Shores before moving to the Hollywood area in 2002. After mentoring under Valencia Gunder, George became an advocate for the local black community. George’s passion for film and art is intertwined with his love for history and community development. George’s work includes the Black Broward Film Project, Episode 1: A Tale of Sibling Communities: Danie & Liberia. He is also a producer of the Sistrunk-A-Fair which is the first black art week in Broward County. He is a 2018 Radical Partners Leadership Lab Alumni and has the “Emmanuel George Collection” at the African American Research Library and Cultural Center. George has been named a 2021-2022 Encore Gen2Gen Innovation Fellow, an award recognizing pragmatic visionaries in communities around the U.S.
Jan. 26, 2022 Facebook Live Artist Talk with
Adrienne Chadwick and Emmanuel George
About Kitty Oliver
Dr. Kitty Oliver is an author, oral historian, media producer, and recording artist with a Ph.D. focusing on race and ethnic communication. She is founder of the landmark cross-cultural Race and Change historical archive in Special Collections at the African American Research Library and Cultural Center, the largest of its kind and scope in the country. Her books, including Voices of America: Race and Change in Hollywood, Florida, public television productions, and radio webcasts are used widely in schools and colleges. She has been featured on CNN and in the Ron Howard film on the Beatles “Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years.”
Funding for this program was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.