By Carrie Stetler, for Art in the Atrium
Art in the Atrium, which curates the largest exhibition of African-American art in New Jersey, will hold the public opening for its annual show on Jan. 23, 2015, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Morristown at the Morris County Administration & Records Building.
The title of the exhibit, which runs through March 15, is Ancient Rhythms Remixed. It will feature the work of West Orange artist Bisa Butler, who reinterprets the art of quilt-making, and more than 20 additional artists. The public opening will include a cocktail reception.
South African printed cotton, batik cotton, and denim. Butler’s work will be featured at Art in the Atrium in Morristown. Photo by Temilayo Butler.
There will also be a VIP Patron reception at the administration building on Jan. 22 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m at the county administration building on Court Street.
Ancient Rhythms Remixed explores work by African American artists that blends the traditional with the new and includes several younger emerging artists, in addition to many who are established.
“We want to inspire people to take a new look at the way we do our work,’’ says Victoria Craig, director of administration for Art in the Atrium.
Butler uses the centuries-old art of quilt-making to produce painterly, modernist portraits of figures like Josephine Baker, Nelson Mandela, Marvin Gaye and Jean-Michael Basquiat. Her art has been exhibited at both the Smithsonian and Epcott Center in Disney World.
“Bisa’s pieces appeal to many different audiences and because they are created from fabric, it gives the show added texture,’’ says Craig.
Art in the Atrium’s school arts program, which is tied to the show, will also take on an added dimension when Butler, a teacher in the Newark public school system, visits classrooms in advance of the show to help children appreciate the experience of seeing an art exhibition. In the past, artists spoke with children after their trip.
Additional artists in the show include Alonzo Adams, James Denmark, Janet Taylor Pickett, Maceo Mitchell, Leroy Campbell, Deborah Willis, Dwight Carter, Barbara Bullock and Norman Lewis.
Art in the Atrium’s annual exhibition is the largest of its kind in the state. “It really helps to expand people’s idea of what African-American art can be,’’ says Craig. “We have works in all mediums and genres. It’s not just figurative paintings with a mask in them.’’
The non-profit organization began in 1992 after Craig’s husband, attorney Charles Craig, noticed that none of the art work exhibited in the Morristown administration building was by African-American artists.
Art in the Atrium was formed to mount an exhibition of black artists and has expanded to include other events such as seminars, jazz brunches and collectors’ workshops. The first Atrium exhibition was held on the second floor, but now, art work is displayed throughout the county administration building.
In addition to its other programs, Art in the Atrium cosponsors artist residencies in the Morris School District that benefit between 200 to 500 students each year. It also awards an annual scholarship to a student artist, whose work is often exhibited in the show.
Art in the Atrium is a nonprofit volunteer organization founded in 1992 in Morris County to showcase the work of emerging and established African-American artists. Its annual exhibition is the largest of its kind in New Jersey.
The exhibition is made possible in part by funds from Morris Arts through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information, visit www.artintheatrium.org.
About Bisa Butler
After spending a decade as a painter, Bisa Butler decided to try quilting, inspired, in part, by her mother and grand mother, who loved to sew.
She began to transfer the concepts and designs of her paintings to fabric and realized that she had found her medium.
Butler, a Newark public school teacher and West Orange resident who grew up in South Orange, is a a formally trained artist who graduated Cum Laude from Howard University with a Bachelor’s in Fine Art degree. At Howard, she studied the works of Romare Bearden, Faith Ringgold, and Henry O. Tanner. She also has an M.A. in teaching from Montclair State University.
After taking a fiber arts class, she began experimenting with fabric, which led to the techniques she uses today.
Butler’s work incorporates the tradition of quilting, and its importance to African Americans — who during slavery used quilts to transmit news and other messages — with a fine art esthetic.
Quilting’s power to evoke memories through the use of fabrics belonging to loved ones and its status as a quintessential American craft are all evident in Butler’s work — as well as its potential for innovative design.
Her quilts communicate art, emotion, heritage, tradition, and beauty.
