ARCHIVES: FEATURED ARTISTS 2021
Click on the photo to view the artist's page.
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Carolyn Mae Lassiter (November '21 Featured Artist) has lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico since 1982 with her husband, Edmond Rabkin, and their daughter, Lara. Carolyn’s art is representative of her soulful and thoughtful self-expression. Her early work consisted of drawings using black ink on paper which evolved into paintings using mixed media (acrylic, oil, decoupage, wax, fabrics, paper maché). She has shown her critically acclaimed work throughout the U.S. in solo and group exhibitions. A partial list includes: Santa Fe Society of Artists (New Mexico); Danny Simmons Corridor Gallery (New York); Luise Ross Gallery and Puck Show (New York, New York); Barbara Archer Gallery (Atlanta, Georgia); State Capitol Building (Santa Fe, New Mexico). Her most recent exhibitions include the University of Massachusetts - Augusta Savage Gallery and The Intersections Group show at Vital Spaces Santa Fe, NM (Summer 2021).
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Charity Henderson (October '21 Featured Artist) is a figurative artist based in Queens, NY. She received her B.F.A. in Painting at SUNY Brockport and an M.F.A. from UMass Dartmouth on a Distinguished Artist Fellowship. Charity has also studied painting in Italy, Sicily and France. Currently, she exhibits at the Salmagundi Club in Manhattan and regularly presents her work in solo and group shows throughout the U.S. In early 2018, she held her first New York City solo exhibition, Beneath the Surface, through the arts nonprofit Chashama. In October 2019, she presented her first commercial solo exhibition with John Davis Gallery in Hudson, NY. Charity works in administration for the American Watercolor Society. She serves as Vice Chair of the Public Relations Committee at Salmagundi, co-managing the organization’s social media.
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Photo Credit: Bob Hakins
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Ruth Davies (September '21 Featured Artist) is a Bay Area native who has performed with jazz and blues greats Charles Brown, Elvin Bishop, Clark Terry, John Lee Hooker, Bonnie Raitt, Jay McShann, Van Morrison, Maria Muldaur, Junior Mance, Linda Tillery, Barbara Dane, Barbara Morrison, Etta Jones, Elvis Costello, Eric Bibb, Keb' Mo', Sammy Hagar, and many others. Her discography (including several Platinum and Grammy-winning recordings) covers various jazz and blues styles as well as movie soundtracks. She has recorded with Charles Brown, Bonnie Raitt, John Lee Hooker, Van Morrison, Sammy Hagar, Elvin Bishop, Maria Muldaur, Jackie Ryan, and Ramblin' Jack Elliott, among others. She toured the world for ten years with the late Charles Brown, performing at major jazz and blues festivals, clubs and concerts as well as radio and television broadcasts worldwide.
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Photo Credit: Raul Mostoslavsky
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Silvina Mizrahi (July '21 Featured Artist) is an Argentinian American interdisciplinary artist and art educator based in Boston. Silvina's art is a mirror of her experiences as an immigrant, memories from her childhood, Jewish traditions, and her commitment to environmental causes. She has exhibited her work in numerous galleries and museums in the U.S. and internationally, including Jerusalem Center for Performing Arts; Museo Timoteo Navarro, Argentina; Arco Baleno, Uruguay; MFA Boston, and Maison de L’Argentine du Paris, France. Silvina has been the recipient of several awards, including the Nathaniel Bushward Award from the Copley Society, the Juror Choice from the Thomas Menino Art Center in Boston, and in 2017, she was selected “One of the 100 Most Influential People for the Latino Community in Boston” by el Planeta, Boston.
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Nancy Staub Laughlin (May '21 Featured Artist) has been recognized and honored at the New Jersey State Museum and is included in the permanent collection. Other accomplishments include exhibits at the Noyes Museum, NJ, Johnson & Johnson World Headquarters in New Brunswick, Bristol/Myers Squibb, Prudential Corporate Gallery in NJ, and a select exhibit titled “Six New Jersey Masters” at Kean University’s Burger Gallery where she also had a solo exhibit. She is represented in many private and public collections and was honored to be chosen to be in the NAWA collection at the Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University. Nancy is the recipient of several notable awards, but her most memorable highlight was being reviewed by the late Sam Hunter, an art critic and acclaimed 20th century art historian, who found her work “refreshingly unique,” a common theme among many of her positive reviews.
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Basha Ruth Nelson (April '21 Featured Artist) is a New York-based installation artist and sculptor working in paper, stainless steel, aluminum and copper. Basha’s work has been exhibited widely. Solo exhibitions include: 60 Washington Square East Galleries, Flemington Gallery of the Arts, US Embassy (Nassau, Bahamas), Noho Gallery, Woodstock Artists Association and Museum, Greene County Council on the Arts, Manhattanville College, Pritzker Studio & Gallery, The Project Space (New York City), Hudson Valley MOCA (formerly HVCCA), and Cunneen Hackett Cultural Center. In addition to numerous group exhibitions and inclusion in many public and private collections, Basha has exhibited internationally at Matinee Art Gallery (Nassau, Bahamas), NY Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum (Copenhagen, Denmark), Florence Biennale, Procidamerica (Italy). Basha was invited to the 2020 Venice Biennial for Architecture and Sculpture and the upcoming edition of 2022.
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Pamela Waldroup (March '21 Featured Artist) is an award-winning photographer and president of fotofoto Gallery in Huntington, NY. Pamela's intensive experience in printmaking with Dan Welden in Florence, Italy and in the Masters in Art Workshop at Southampton inspired her transition to digital photography as her primary medium. For 33 years, she taught darkroom and digital photography and fine arts while successfully exhibiting her work and the work of her students in many local and regional venues. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and has exhibited extensively in the metropolitan area in galleries and museums including: the Alex Ferrone Gallery, Salmagundi Art Club in NYC, 440 Gallery in Brooklyn, fotofoto Gallery, East End Arts Gallery, Mills Pond House Gallery, Main Street Gallery, Art League of LI, Long Island Museum, b.j. Spoke Gallery, and many others. She is a member of the National Association of Women Artists (NAWA) in New York City.
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February 2021 FEATURED ARTIST: Afi Ese is an African American contemporary realism and figurative conceptual artist living in Houston, Texas with roots in Togo and Mali.
The artworks of Afi Ese represent and venerate the rich history of the West African diaspora with an emphasis on generational trauma and triumph in Black America. As a child of the diaspora, her paintings are conceptualized narratives of the African plight through the eyes of a self-aware Black American. She combines and re-imagines historical events and attributes specific to the Black American experience. In doing so, she gets to shine a spotlight on the beauty and resilience of her community by using the gifts and talents given by her ancestors. Afi’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States and in South Africa. Her works are held in private collections in England, Trinidad, Canada, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya and the United States. |
© Velicia Gourdin
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February 2021 FEATURED ARTIST: Velicia Gourdin is from Boston, MA. She has created illustrative and graphic design work for The New York Times, Jazz vocalist Lezlie Harrison, and a host of others. She has also been featured in many publications, including Urban Bush Babes and AFROPUNK.
Velicia is a self-taught digital artist whose work is a blend between traditional methods and the infinite flexibility of today's digital illustration tools. Focusing on diversity in her portrayal of beauty - as it relates to the fashion industry and beyond - Velicia seeks to communicate power, positivity and possibility in her work. She hopes that each line, each application of color, and each composition breaks through deep-rooted perceptions of beauty. She is currently teaching a college-level, virtual drawing class, planning various personal projects (including illustrating a children's book), and looking forward to safely visiting her grandchildren. |
Photo Credit: Joseph A. Rosen
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January 2021 FEATURED ARTIST: Hailed by the New York Times as “one of the great soul interpreters of her generation,” six-time Grammy nominee Bettye LaVette is a vocalist who can take any type of song – jazz or country, pop or rhythm & blues – and make it her own. Bettye’s commitment to artistry has earned the admiration of musical peers, such as Jon Bon Jovi. “She doesn’t just sing the song, she lives in each of them,” he said. Singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt also praised her as “…one of the most incredible R&B singers singing today…a force of nature.” After a career spanning close to six decades, Bettye was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame (The Blues Foundation) in May 2020. Her latest album, Blackbirds, has garnered Bettye her sixth Grammy nomination for “Best Contemporary Blues Album.” In curating the songs for Blackbirds, Bettye has established a dialogue with the great women who preceded her while reaffirming herself as a vital, living presence.
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