Black Space Art Exhibition now on display at Thomas Center in Gainesville

Artwork and photographs from people across the African diaspora are being highlighted in Gainesville in celebration of Black History Month.

The Black Space Art Exhibition, which opened Friday and run through March 16, features the works of 17 Black artists at The Historic Thomas Center at 302 NE Sixth Ave.

The exhibition is sponsored by the city of Gainesville’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department, Florida Division of Arts and Culture, and Moisturizer Gallery.

The 17 artists featured included Antoine Williams, Goldie Moretti, Benedicta Opoku-Mensah, Rubin Gabeau, Yvonne Ferguson, Localhotboy, FARO, Jeneice Ware, Yasmin Naji, Bella Rootz, Theophilus Annor, Ebenezer Nketsiah-Mensah, Alyne Harris, Casey Jones, Nina Yagual, Dayanna Peek and Samuel Aye-Gboyin.

Lexus Giles, curator of the exhibit, is a University of Florida graduate student who said she is UF’s first and only Black female graduate student in the ceramics department.

“We don’t see a lot of us on campus,” Giles said. “I wanted to create an event where it brings all of us together so we can have this space to celebrate, exist and laugh. I want it to be like a family reunion.”

Giles, originally from Mississippi and a graduate of Mississippi State University, will graduate from UF in May.

“I love how unapologetic Black art is and how uncensored it is,” Giles said. “I love how it demands attention even when society tries to ignore us.”

Giles collaborated with Moisturizer Gallery Director Dessarae Bassil.

Bassil said the gallery is in its seventh year and she curates art centered around the Black, Asian, Hispanic and queer experience.

“Statistically and historically speaking, it’s been a place for white men,” Bassil said. “What’s the point of having the same point-of-view over and over again? Artists are supposed to elevate and move the culture.”

Bassil did an open call for artists to submit their artwork and said she loves giving back to the community through hosting art galleries.

“We want to make sure to highlight a mixture of known and unknown artists,” Giles said. “Gainesville doesn’t have a lot of contemporary art, so we saw a lack and started doing it.”

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Carol Richardson, cultural affairs manager for the city of Gainesville, welcomed the audience to the exhibition.

Richardson thanked Anne Gilroy, curator of the Thomas Center Galleries, for her help in opening the space to artists.

“This exhibit is an effort to say that we hear you,” Richardson said. “We are working to be more intentional and showcase more art from the African American community.”

UF fine arts senior and artist Jeneice Ware has four art pieces displayed in the gallery.

The Orlando native said she has had an interest in the arts since kindergarten and developed her expertise and skills in high school.

“I love the creativity,” Ware said. “I love working with colors and I love how expressive it is.”

Most of her artwork depicts Black women in a purple hue doing their hair.

“Purple represents royalty and I wanted to show us as regal and beautiful,” Ware said. “Showcasing our natural hair process is important to me because we put a lot of work in our hair. It’s therapeutic and cathartic.”

Ware said she appreciates Giles curating the space for Black artists and hopes Black women can see themselves through her art.

“I hope that Black women and Black girls see themselves in my work and say that we’re all beautiful,” she said. “We can turn anything into beauty and anything we touch turn to gold.”

Aye-Gboyin, has two photographs on display in the exhibition showing Ghanaians of West Africa posing while shopping at the market.

Aye-Gboyin is in his second year in the Master of Fine Arts studio at UF.

“I went to Accra and took photos of ordinary people on the street,” Aye-Gboyin said. “All of these people have stories. I went up to them, interviewed them and took a picture. The pictures are a part of a series and I took 20 of them. Some of them are displayed in Orlando.”

Aye-Gboyin said he was exposed to the arts at an early age and developed a love for it.

“Art is the highest form of expression,” Aye-Gboyin said. “Growing up, I remember when I was in the house and I saw old films and saw they were good.”

He enjoys seeing people come together to look at art in the Black Space exhibit, Aye-Gboyin said.

“It feels like a melting pot,” Aye-Gboyin said “People here have different backgrounds and they’re here for different reasons. It feels amazing. It shows that the future is in great hands.”

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Black Space Art Exhibition on display at Thomas Center in Gainesville