(NEWARK, NJ) -- Akwaaba Gallery will present Armisey Smith’s “Golden” from March 18 through April 15. The exhibition showcases intimate portraits of Black women capturing their subjects’ emotional life during and after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes abstract pieces that underscore the displacement of black people via the slave trade and systemic oppression.
An opening reception will be held on March 18 from 5:00pm to 9:00pm.
The work by Armisey Smith work is a dialogue and homage to disenfranchised black people, specifically black women. Her work captures the traumas of being black in America yet underscores the resiliency of blackness. Unprecedented acts of violence against black and brown bodies, and the openness of white supremacy infused in our body politics, compelled Ms. Smith to document the continuous travesties meted out by those who seek to oppress black people.
Many of Smith’s paintings in “Golden” captures women during a climate of trauma and fear amidst a perilous period in our country's history. She was outraged that African Americans suffered disproportionately from COVID-19 while many Americans showed cavalier indifference to the ramifications of the disease. Armisey channeled most of these feelings into her work, specifically, the “Side-Eye/ Pink-Eye” series created in 2021-2022. Golden exposes didactic elements like bone-deep frustration with the systems that oppress black people; yet illuminates black women's strength and resilience in the maelstrom of systemic racism.
The introduction of gold paint and leaf in Smith’s work has a dual meaning; the gold reflects the resources taken from Africa and the Americas to fuel the “Triangular Trade,” better known as the Industrial Revolution. This system, in turn, built generational wealth and power in Europe and America.
Antithetical to the plundering of resources, gold represents African wealth in some forms, namely high status, monetary wealth and royalty, fertility, and spiritual purity. In the ancient Americas, gold was a manifestation of the sacred, and objects fashioned from it were a means of connecting with a supernatural world. Ultimately, the gold symbolizes the reclamation of what was and who we aspire to be, albeit after centuries of maltreatment by Europeans and Euro-Americans.
Some paintings are from Smith’s “Side Eye, Pink Eye” series, referencing conjunctivitis, a COVID symptom reported early in the pandemic. The gazes depicted in her paintings wear expressions of anxiety, anger, numbness, and suspicion.
Her subjects include people she knows; however, “It was painful to transfer other people’s pain to canvas and at the same time convey what was going on: Trump, police brutality, and the pandemic. It was a demoralizing time. I wanted to include people I know and love as a way for them to have their voices heard, too,’’ says Smith, who lives in Newark.
Other paintings are hopeful tributes to Black women’s resilience, conveying a mood of reflection and openness. Most of these paintings are acrylic or oil on paper and canvas and have been done within the past three years, ranging from 18 x 18” to 52” tall.
“Ultimately, this show is also a love story about Black women,’’ she explains. “Nothing erases all that makes us who we are, all the trials and tribulations we go through...Strength as a woman is divine. Sometimes there is vulnerability, but the strength is always ready to bubble to the surface.”
She adds, “There is frustration with how the world is shaping up for us, but also the knowledge that we have this ability and fortitude to take care of what we need to; our families ourselves, and do what’s right for us.”
An inspiration for the show’s title, and Smith personally, is the song “Golden” by Jill Scott. “It’s the Black woman's anthem,’’ she declares. “Life might throw me some curves, but you know what? I’m golden. I know that inside, my descendants glow within me. I tell their story and the stories of others. That growth, warmth, and grace are what make us beautiful. That’s what I want to convey.”
Some of the pieces in the show have gold leaf backgrounds or include some type of gilding. “It’s also a way of using the metal leaf to elevate the discussion around the inherent strength of the women I’m portraying,’’ Smith says.
Smith grew up in Brooklyn and received a BFA in Illustration from Parsons School of Design and an MPS in Arts and Cultural Management from Pratt Institute. Her work has been exhibited in galleries throughout the tri-state area, and she has been the lead artist on several public art mural projects in New Jersey.
She is also an arts administrator, educator, muralist, illustrator, and curator.
Akwaaba Gallery is located at 509 S. Orange Avenue in Newark, New Jersey. The gallery features diverse and eclectic contemporary works of art in various mediums. Akwaaba's mission is to engage the community and public with exhibitions featuring emerging local, regional, national and international artists. Akwaaba Gallery is quickly becoming the art hub of the West Ward and a welcoming venue to the community and surrounding towns.
