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:
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