Opening Friday, June 28, 2024, 6-9 p.m. at 5 Points Art Gallery + Studios, This Is America 2024 hits hard on reclamation and correction of popular social and political narratives. Steadfast and true to all artistic forms, This is America is a group exhibition that remains a critical and unfiltered visual art demonstration for artists of color to explore, narrate, display and create dialogue around their diverse lived experiences, observations and cultural associations with the United States of America.
Wisconsin-based, national, and international, This Is America’s exhibiting artists represent expansive territories, identities, languages, cultures, artistic approaches and influences. Capturing the most vulnerable moments as well as challenging the most debated and divisive topics, works on display are equally diverse in content and technique. From photographic documentation, repurposed and reimagined materials, 3-D printed sculptures, to eloquently rendered traditional oil paintings, the works and artists reveal riveting visual storylines in their respective media.
Exhibiting artists include: Bennie C. Higgins (Milwaukee, WI), Chuck Jackson (Memphis, TN), Claudia Maysen (Keller, TX), D.J. da Artist (Baltimore, MD), Darrel Melvin Payne (Milwaukee, WI), Drék Davis (Monroe, LA), Destiny Brady (Chicago, IL), Emmanuel Guerra (Milwaukee, WI), Erik Salgado (Chicago, IL), Fatima Laster (Milwaukee, WI), Jared Davis a.k.a. Turtle Sooup (Milwaukee, WI), Kelvin Bulluck (Washington D.C.), Kleaver Cruz (Bronx, NY), Kierston Ghaznavi (Milwaukee, WI), LaDasia Bryant (Milwaukee, WI), Manny Vibez (Milwaukee, WI), Mark A. West Jr. (Baltimore, MD), Nina Ghanbarzadeh (Milwaukee, WI), Rebecca Marimutu (New York, NY) and *Spencer Hutchinson (Chicago, IL).
On Saturday, July 27, 2024, 1-2:30 p.m., in cojunction to the customary visual arts component and in collaboration with literary and visual arts organization, Woodland Pattern, This is America will feature a book and author talk with Kleaver Cruz, creator of The Black Joy Project. This powerful art-infused journal stands as positive affirmation and a manifesto to reclaiming and exalting joy in face of repressive and spirit-depleting experiences that plague the diasporic Black existence. Amongst the selection of over 100 artists, The Black Joy Project visual art contributions also include works by UW-Milwaukee graduate and Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design graduate, Destiny Brady and LaDasia Bryant, with their original works, For Us By Us- Media Site Plan III and Womanhood, being showcased in This is America as well. Books will available for purchase throughout the duration of the exhibition and available for signing during the author talk.
The unbounded and impactful works within This is America will be on display until August 25, 2024. Artist talk will occur at 7 p.m. (CST) opening night.
*At the time of the initial press release, artist and dear friend of 5 Points Art Gallery + Studios, Spencer Hutchinson, unknowingly passed away. Spencer was scheduled to be included in This is America 2024, but could not be reached for confirmation. The gallery and the Hutchinson Family have since connected and communicated. With family support, 5 Points Art Gallery + Studios will continue Spencer’s participation in the exhibition, with a posthumous feature of multiple works to honor his life practice and commitment and love for the gallery and the 5 Points Art Gallery + Studios’ reciprocal love for Spencer. The day following the exhibition opening, Spencer Hutchinson’s celebration of life will take place in Chicago, IL on Saturday, June 29, 2024, 3-6 p.m. at the Ravenswood Event Center. There are not enough words to explain how this phenomenal person and artist will be missed.
