Representing African Heritage

The star artist of Representing was Hollis Baptiste, aka Awalay.  His work was presented in the largest of the 3 galleries which took up one entire floor at 80 Spadina.  In this gallery, he used 3 of the 4 walls, including the heavy old pine support beams in this historic building, to showcase his work.

The large bright-red painting of the bright-blue skeleton holding a spear, and giving off powerful black arrows of vibration outwards from all around him, while standing on the black burial ground of white skulls is the one I used as the image for all the publicity posters and the hand-outs on Opening Night.  This bright skeleton almost seems to be in flames.

Awalay asked me why I chose the colour I did when I arranged for the publicity production, because the painting is in fact bright red.  I answered "It's the colour of old blood."

Awalay also posted part of his large collection of metal masks.  As an artist, he collects, assembles and re-contextualizes found objects.  These metal masks show a strong resemblance to ancient African wood-carved ones, but they Represent the perspective of an African descent in this Euro-centric society.   

Hollis believes that art is a reflection of and commentary on what is happening in the world.

Awalay also showed very large, thought-provoking and challenging paintings.  He told me he was inspired by the world renowned, late NYC painter of Haitian origin, Jean-Michel Basquiat. But Awalay/HollisBaptiste's work bears its own stamp of greatness.  Awalay always works in 3 dimensions where Basquiat was strictly a painter.

                                                                             

Awalay continues to work today, now as Hollis Baptiste, but he has begun working with found plastic objects and even children's toys.  He continues to explore new territory and to challenge boundaries. The last show of his I attended was in October 2013 at The Robert Kananaj Gallery.

Without Hollis' partnership as co-curator with me, by introducing me to other prominent black artists who were also doing high-quality work in Toronto at that time, I would not have been able to produce Representing: African Heritage in Contemporary Art.

Art as Politics

There was a time during the 90's when I was known as an Artists' Representative, and not as a graduate in Interior Design.  So it was that for three weeks in February 1995 for Black History Month I  produced and with the help of the artists themselves, curated, Representing African Heritage.

Six artists of African descent took possession of three large galleries at 80 Spadina.  Representing African Heritage showed the state of contemporary black art in Toronto.

An art exhibit of this magnitude was a historic event for Toronto.  Why?  Because Representing comprised the most ambitious collection of quality work by artists of African descent that had up to this point in time been assembled in this city. 

Its aim was to show Toronto African Heritage in the primary position. 

Faki is a graduate of the University of Toronto, Faculty of Art and Art History.  He was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1969.

"The works I did between 1990 and 1992 were large and impregnated with the rage of my youth and African heritage."

This work is an woodcut done on sheets of plywood.  The work is so large that it took one entire gallery room to contain it.

Representing African Heritage was filmed and now resides in the CBC archives. 

I produced this large show privately, and since then this singular event has spawned yearly art exhibitions for Black History Month, all of them now corporate-sponsored.