NEWS RELEASE: AFRICOBRA: Nation Time at historic Biennale Arte 2019 in Venice

“The opportunity to bring the work of the AFRICOBRA collective to this historic and global stage is an honor I do not take lightly,” said Hayes. “Bringing forward the histories and cultural significances of artists from the African Diaspora is a personal mission, and recognition of this mission from art institutions worldwide is an incredible step for each artist whose story will finally be told.”

AFRICOBRA: Nation Time’s exhibition at Biennale Arte 2019, presented by bardoLA, is the first time the work of this vital, definitive and historic Black Arts collective has been celebrated by global audiences on this scale. Hayes features more than 40 works by members of the collective, along with historic documentation and archival photographs in this large-scale exhibition. AFRICOBRA was founded on the South Side of Chicago in 1968 by a collective of young Black artists, whose interest in Transnational Black Aesthetics led them to create one of the most distinctive visual voices in 20th-century American art. The key characteristics to what we now consider the classic AFRICOBRA look—vibrant, “cool-ade” colors, bold text, shine and positive images of Black people —were essential to everyday life in the community from which this movement emerged. The five AFRICOBRA founders—Jeff Donaldson, Wadsworth Jarrell, Jae Jarrell, Barbara Jones-Hogu and Gerald Williams—understood the potential power visual art has to communicate deep meaning on multiple registers. Their collective impact helped establish the visual voice of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 70s. The exhibition debuted in December of 2018 at Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami. For more information on Biennale Arte 2019 Collateral Events, click here.

In addition to the upcoming inclusion in the Biennale Arte 2019, Hayes’ recent independent curatorial projects include speaking in a panel during the 13^th Havana Biennial, which takes place April 12 – May 12, 2019. In the conversation, titled Curating In and Out of the Institutional Frame, Hayes will share her strategies for presenting curatorial work with different types of art institutions while expanding the art historical narrative and dismantling systemic exclusion of artists of the African Diaspora. The panel will be in conversation with Mark Scala, Chief Curator at the Frist Art Museum; Grace Aneiza Ali, Assistant Professor at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University; and independent curator Helga Montalván. The panel will take place on April 16 at 10 am in Matanzas.

Another significant exhibition curated by Hayes, Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman, is currently on view at the Cummer Museum in Jacksonville, Florida through April 7, 2019. The exhibition reassesses artist Augusta Savage’s contributions to art and cultural history through the lens of the artist-activist. Savage (1892-1962) overcame poverty, racism and sexual discrimination to become one of the most influential American artists of the 20^th century, playing a pivotal role in the development of some of this country’s most celebrated artists, including William Artis, Romare Bearden, Gwendolyn Bennett, Robert Blackburn, Gwendolyn Knight, Jacob Lawrence and Norman Lewis. Hayes brings together nearly 80 works from 21 national public and private lenders, presenting Savage’s small- and medium-size sculptures in bronze and other media alongside works by artists she mentored. The exhibition will travel nationally to the New-York Historical Society, the Palmer Museum of Art at Pennsylvania State University and the Dixon Gallery & Gardens (Memphis). For more information on the exhibition, click here.

Curator Jeffreen M. Hayes earned a Ph.D. in American Studies from the College of William and Mary, a Master of Arts in Art History from Howard University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from Florida International University. She is currently the Executive Director of Threewalls in Chicago and has previously worked at the Birmingham Museum of Art, Hampton University Art Museum, the Library of Congress and the National Gallery of Art. Her curatorial projects include “Intimate Interiors” (2012), “Etched in Collective History” (2013), “SILOS” (2016), “Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman” (2018), and “Process” (2019). She was a guest curator for Artpace San Antonio’s International Artist in Residence Program from May–August 2018. She is also a TEDx speaker and spoke about “Arts Activism in Simple Steps” in Fall 2018.

Threewalls was founded in 2003 to provide support and visibility for the visual arts community in Chicago. The founders wanted to encourage a greater awareness of Chicago’s art scene by inviting emerging professional artists to share in the city’s rich histories, resources and creative communities. Over the past fifteen years, Threewalls has been a center for artist-focused programming, critical writing, and direct support for artist projects. Threewalls hosts artists interested in working in and with diverse Chicago communities through their RaD Lab program; supports interactive work by local and regional artists in Outside the Walls; and programs salons to generate open dialogue, the presentation of new ideas and the publication of new writing. Threewalls partners with other organizations on exhibitions, publications, and education programs in an effort to broaden and contribute to the contemporary visual arts. For more information about Threewalls, visit three-walls.org/.