N'Art: Live from Atlanta!
National Black Arts Festival Celebrates 20 Years

The city of Atlanta was the backdrop for the National Black Arts Festival 20th celebration. Luminaries Gladys Knight, Wynton Marsalis, Alice Walker and the powerful legal giant and social philosopher Cornell West were among the headliners at this diverse and inclusive celebration. Attendees enjoyed the sounds of the 11-piece Latin funk orchestra, Latin Gold, and the proud voices of the Gay Pride contingency speak-out. However, no celebration would be complete without the rhythms of the visual arts and its artists.

The visual arts were well represented by EMBRACE: The Fine Art Fair of the National Black Fine Art Festival. In its third year, EMBRACE was hosted in the magnificent 24,000 square foot space of Mason Murer Fine Art Gallery. EMBRACE brought together, under one venue, twenty leading galleries from across the world, featuring collector-quality original art by 200 Artists of African descent. These national and international artists represented the finest in Black creativity, with Chicago well represented by Gallery Guichard and Lusenhop Fine Art. Chicago made an impressive patron showing as Diasporial Rhythms, Chicago’s Black Art collector’s organization and their friends and guests also attended the festival.

Many of the participating galleries such as ACA Gallery and Art 70th, of New York, featured the legendary Black masters like Romare Beardon, Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, Charles White and Loïs Mailou Jones. Artcetera TM and Avisca Fine Art galleries included the work of cutting edge artists like Howardena Pindell and Freddie Styles in their repertoire of artists.

However, Vaknin gallery in Atlanta took us to another level in looking at art. They introduced us to Fahamu Pecou with his Hip Hop vibes and popular culture issues which radiated from the painted and collaged canvas. Paco recasts funky images of himself on the covers of popular magazines. Upon meeting Fahamu I saw that this was only a slice of the man – a personification. I was received with a different sensibility- warmth, sincerity and intellect. Juxapositioned to this we saw the classic presentations including African American, Latin American, African and Arab works of art shown by Derrick Joshua Beard Fine Art and Antiques of Washington, DC.

Chicago Artists Well Represented

It was exciting to see Chicago artists represented by galleries away from home. Abiola Akintola and Debra Hand were represented by Folasayo Home of African Concepts Gallery of Atlanta. Richard Hunt was represented by Stella Jones Gallery, of New Orleans, and the work of Rhonda Wheatley was shown at In The Gallery International, of Wilmington, North Carolina.

Gallery Guichard of Chicago who represents emerging, mid-career and master artists of the African Diaspora, were also in attendance. Guichard’s stable of artists includes Robert Lewis Clark, Floyd Atkins, Calvin Coleman, Pearlie Taylor and Dayo Layoe. Lusenhop Fine Art of Chicago’s vintage stable of artists included Melvin W. Clark, Richard Hunt, Wadsworth Jarrell, Thomas Lucas and Robert A. Sengstacke. Lusenhop also exhibited an impressive photography retrospective of the Civil Rights Movement.

The Charles Jones African Art gallery of Wilmington grounded the fine Arts Fair by exhibiting Traditional African Art from Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Ethiopia, and The Congo. The artists whose work was presented in the show are drawn from a historical lineage, an African ethos whose roots can be traced back to the beginning of humankind.

The host gallery Mason Murer Fine Art features regional artists as well as artists from around the world. They present monumental sculpture, painting, photography, and works on paper by emerging and established artists in their spacious gallery. For this show the works on exhibition were by Benny Andrews, Larry Walker, Charles White, and the honored artist of the 2008 Black Fine Art Show, Richard Mayhew. Richard Mayhew presented a video and gave a historical talk on The Spiral Group which he co-founded in the 1960s. As always, this master artist was informative, enlightening and inspirational. The National Black Arts Festival and EMBRACE were joyous and stirred the creative juices.

Daniel T. Parker is an art collector and author of African Art: The Diaspora and Beyond.