Diasporal Rhythms

Diasporal Rhythms

"Diasporal Rhythms seeks to build a passionate group of collectors engaged in actively collecting visual art created by contemporary artists of the African Diaspora as well as to expand the appreciation of those artists’ work."

 

The Diasporal Rhythms "Frame Drive" collected over 100 frames for the Art Department at King College Prep High School.  The school is creating a permanent art gallery at King that showcases the students’ creations. 

 

Events

Collectors Membership Meeting

 

 

HAPPENINGS

Our Artists, Our Collectors, Our Connections

Diasporal Rhythms has a new public Website

Please visit www.diasporalrhythms.org

Members’ information remains here, please SIGN IN

Diasporal Rhythms' mission is to collect, promote and preserve art from the African Diaspora by encouraging individuals and institutions to appreciate and acquire this art.

ART SMART: Why is Black Art Hot Now? The Road to International Recognition.
A panel of stellar artists and a gallerist will provide their perspective on the question “Has there been an increased demand for art from artists of African descent, or increased focus on artists of African descent over the last 5 - 10 years? Why? or Why not?” Panelists will reflect on the perception of increased demand and the factors that impact interest. The panelists will consist of a gallerist, who has represented various artists, as well as artists of African descent whose visibility has increased internationally. They will share their perception and their experiences in the industry.  

 

Time & Location
Sep 21, 2:00 PM – 04:00 PM
Smart Museum of Art, 5550 S Greenwood Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, USA

About the Event
Please RSVP and purchase tickets.
$10 for members of Diasporal Rhythms
$15 for nonmembers
$5 for students with ID; pay at the door

 

https://www.diasporalrhythms.org/events-1/art-smart-why-is-black-art-hot-now-the-road-to-international-recognition  

Join Us for a Great Mini-Tour

Understanding Abstract Art

June 30, 2019

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Sandra McCollum

In our last blog on Afrofuturism, we discussed the imagination and emotions as two of the motivations implicit in the creative process of an Afrofuturistic art form. We also touched on a theory that the past present and future occur simultaneously. With these two ideas at the forefront of my mind, I am writing about an Art Smart Diasporal Rhythm event which featured members and artists discussing Abstract Art, which took place long before the Afrofuturism presentation. Yet, I find myself honing-in on qualities in Abstract Art also present in Afrofuturism, which confirms for me, all things are related.

 

The essence of Abstract Art is an intriguing fusion of technique and emotion. The artist employs multiple elements of art such as color, shape, texture, line, and value. Most artists, however, purposefully want the audience to engage in an exercise of emotion and imagination, just as the artist did in constructing the abstract painting.

 

 

Rather than asking, “What does this painting mean?” Allow the painting to ask questions of you. What emotions do you feel when you look at this painting? What is the narrative you can create in your mind by looking at this painting? Whatever explanations you surmise as the answers to these questions, will also give you the meaning of the painting.

 

What is Abstract Art? It is absolutely an expression of freedom. It is the freedom to enter into the inner domain of you and to release your imagination for the world to see and to feel, whether you are the artist or the viewer. It is a concrete feeling of capturing the ephemeral soul of you. It is the creation of a new language written in brush and paint which speaks to us in coded whispers of a new truth.

 

Often, we approach an abstract painting blindly and allow its significance to elude us if we do not use our imagination and our emotions. Sometimes we are aware of the bio of the artist and these threads of information may yield clues to the artist’s heartfelt emotions. Pearlie Taylor was one of the featured artists at our panel discussion on Abstract Art. She eloquently articulated the changes in her artist life which freed her from painting in a realistic style to expressing herself in abstract. She spoke of her Muse speaking to her in silent emotional urgings at a very young age, in the unlikely dwelling place of sharecroppers, to create. As she grew in her craft as an artist, her life emulated that growth in marrying creative men whose creativity was expressed through music and refined taste.

 

Eventually her life led her to paint in a different genre, the abstract, as in this space, she felt herself become one with the idea and the painting. Interestingly she stated, she started from a place where she did not know who she was, to the Abstract Expressionist she is today. She freed her spirit by delving within and following the urgings of her true creative self.

 Dorian Nash performed an exceptional job of moderating the discussion. Collector D. E. Simmons also described how he was once a collector of literal art and now he is drawn inexplicably to the beauty of the abstract. The mental engagement it required to focus on the meaning of an Abstract painting enhanced his own creative thinking processes. Gail Spann, and G.L. Smothers, other collectors, spoke of similar transformation in their taste for the abstract. Others on the panel such as artist/collector Felicia Grant-Preston and Collector James Parker similarly described a recognition of their magnified appreciation for all art. One discerned that these artists/collectors articulated that living in the present is infinitely more rewarding than productivity. Observing, creating and appreciating abstract art, places us in the moment, delving into the unspoken significance of life, thus, creating and connecting value individually.

 

To restate a quote written by me in The Love Affair Continues, “As Collectors we are in a continuous search for the elusive concept of beauty which often presents itself as a vivid and complex mosaic of the new, and, of the forgotten.If you haven’t already.

 

Learn to appreciate the Abstract.

Read what Chicago Voyager has about Patric McCoy and Diasporal Rhythms

Sponsors for 2018

The July/August 2018 Issue of New Art Examiner has wonderful article about members of Diasporal Rhythms, Cleveland Dean and Kehinde Wiley!

Buy Tickets to ArtSmart Here

ArtSmart Tickets


 

View "I Am a Collector" with Patric McCoy

CLICK HERE for I Am a Collector

M.L. King H.S. Art Students Visit Chicago State University

 

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A Ten-Year Love Affair with Collecting Art of the African Diaspora 

 Diasporal Rhythms Memorabilia from the Anniversary

Purchase items by clicking on the SHOPPING tab above.

PRESENTATIONS On YOUTUBE

Celebratory Video and  Introduction to 2014 Home Collector Tour

Diasporal Rhythms-A Ten-Year Love Affair

Introduction to Diasporal Rhythms

Art Gathering: The Collector  - Patric McCoy's collection at Governors State University

"Legacy & Culture Covo #2 with Daniel T. Parker"

 

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Contact Us

Diasporal Rhythms
4301 South Ellis Avenue
Suite 207
Chicago, IL 60653

info@diasporalrhythms.net 

 
 
 

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Benefits from our

Sponsors

Art & Company

15% Off Framing

16249 S.107th Ave Orland Park IL 60467

708-675-4620  www.artandcompany.net

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Diasporal Rhythms, NFP, is a 501C(3)organization.

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