PARALLELS + PERIPHERIES: Practice + Presence Revisited

In February of 2021, The New York Academy of Art held its first
exhibition featuring BIPOC artists who attended the school. The
show was called Parallels + Peripheries and it was proposed by
alumna Robyn Gibson on the heels of the worldwide protests
sparked by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud
Arbery and countless others. Her proposal was accepted by the
Academy and Larry Ossei-Mensah was invited to curate the show
along with Robyn as assistant-curator.


In March, we had an opportunity to sit down with a number of the
artists from the show and hear their reflections and to continue
the conversation.


We hope that this show can be a model to other art institutions
and that this kind of exhibition could be an annual one.


"It felt fundamental that every place should do this and all they
have to do is listen." - Darryl B. Smith


In this episode you will here the voices of:


Darryl Babatunde Smith


Andrae Green


Guno Park


Leeanna Chipana


Steven Anthony Johnson


Prinston Nnanna


Link to show information: https://nyaa.edu/parallels-peripheries/


PARALLELS & PERIPHERIESis an ongoing
exhibition series curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah investigating how
contemporary artists create work constructed from narratives,
myths, experiences, and memories that shape personal, political,
and societal identities. For this edition of the exhibition, the
inquiry seeks to explore how BIPOC artists are cultivating
dynamic artistic practices designed to amplify perspectives and
points of view that historically have pushed to the margins.


PARALLELS & PERIPHERIES: Practice +
Presenceis the fifth iteration of the series focused on
how the New York Academy of Art’s BIPOC artistic community (i.e.
students, faculty, alumni, and visiting critics) uses their
practice and platform to assert their presence within the world
while attempting to negotiate issues of race, identity,
visibility, and invisibility in a time of social volatility.
Moreover, PARALLELS &
PERIPHERIES: Practice + Presence intends to use
the exhibition as a forum for unpacking the question of what
happens when the power dynamics between “center” and “periphery”
shift?


Music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod