• Mark your calendar! Next Thursday, March 11 at 7:00 est is the next Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History symposium. Becci Davis, Anina Major, Jason Patterson, and Marisa Williamson will be in conversation with curators Jay Simple and Emma Steinkraus. Registration link in bio. @bdavissynergy @aninamajor @jason_patterson @marisaswilliamson @jaysimplephoto @emmasteinkraus @longwooduniversity @hsc1776
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    Mark your calendar! Next Thursday, March 11 at 7:00 est is the next Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History symposium. Becci Davis, Anina Major, Jason Patterson, and Marisa Williamson will be in conversation with curators Jay Simple and Emma Steinkraus. Registration link in bio. @bdavissynergy @aninamajor @jason_patterson @marisaswilliamson @jaysimplephoto @emmasteinkraus @longwooduniversity @hsc1776
  • Mark your calendar for March 24 at 7! Lauren Rice will be speaking about her work on Zoom that evening. Registration link will be available soon! @laurendrice @longwooduniversity
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    Mark your calendar for March 24 at 7! Lauren Rice will be speaking about her work on Zoom that evening. Registration link will be available soon! @laurendrice @longwooduniversity
  • Amir George is an award-winning filmmaker based in Chicago. George is a film programmer at True/False Film Fest and cofounder of the touring film series Black Radical Imagination. As an artist, George creates spiritual stories, juxtaposing sound and image into an experience of non-linear perception. George’s films have screened at institutions and film festivals including Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, Anthology Film Archives, Royal College of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Trinidad and Tobago International Film Festival, BlackStar Film Festival, Afrikana Film Festival, and Camden International Film Festival, among others. “it’s pleasing to me and my ancestors” is designed as an altar hall featuring three archival works. The works interrogate and experiment with film form and genre to extend the possibilities for moving images to resuscitate embodied, spiritual, and coded understandings of black experiences. Salt is left as an offering. For more of George’s film work, see https://vimeo.com/amirgeorge Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History is curated by Jay Simple and Emma Steinkraus. You can see George’s work at The Gallery at Hampden-Sydney College. @geoauteur @emmasteinkraus @jaysimplephoto @hsc1776 @longwooduniversity
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    Amir George is an award-winning filmmaker based in Chicago. George is a film programmer at True/False Film Fest and cofounder of the touring film series Black Radical Imagination. As an artist, George creates spiritual stories, juxtaposing sound and image into an experience of non-linear perception. George’s films have screened at institutions and film festivals including Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, Anthology Film Archives, Royal College of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Trinidad and Tobago International Film Festival, BlackStar Film Festival, Afrikana Film Festival, and Camden International Film Festival, among others. “it’s pleasing to me and my ancestors” is designed as an altar hall featuring three archival works. The works interrogate and experiment with film form and genre to extend the possibilities for moving images to resuscitate embodied, spiritual, and coded understandings of black experiences. Salt is left as an offering. For more of George’s film work, see https://vimeo.com/amirgeorge Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History is curated by Jay Simple and Emma Steinkraus. You can see George’s work at The Gallery at Hampden-Sydney College. @geoauteur @emmasteinkraus @jaysimplephoto @hsc1776 @longwooduniversity
  • This Thursday at 7:00 join Amir George for a film screening and artist talk with Jay Simple and Emma Steinkraus. Remember to register through the link in bio! @geoauteur @jaysimplephoto @emmasteinkraus @longwooduniversity @hsc1776
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    This Thursday at 7:00 join Amir George for a film screening and artist talk with Jay Simple and Emma Steinkraus. Remember to register through the link in bio! @geoauteur @jaysimplephoto @emmasteinkraus @longwooduniversity @hsc1776
  • Zora J Murff’s education in Psychology and his employment as a human services professional influenced his early experiences as an artist. Working with people in such capacities was deeply informative through its convolution. The ultimate goal of such work was to find ways to create a society where the positions themselves were obsolete. The foundation on which Murff’s artistic practice rests is no different: creating artwork meant to render their impacts defunct. Being immersed in social service environments gave Murff firsthand knowledge of the many—and lasting consequences of stigmatization. Photography contends with itself in similar ways, an ambivalent object; Images can be implements of harm and tools for liberation. They can make individuals into “others” while simultaneously providing concrete evidence on how that flawed logic exists. Murff uses the medium to create a critical discourse on those dynamics of power and oppression to give them names. His ultimate goal is to provide novel ways of thinking about images in service to institutional critique and reform. Zora J Murff is an Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Arkansas. He received his MFA from the University of Nebraska—Lincoln and holds a BS in Psychology from Iowa State University. Merging his educational experiences, Murff uses his practice to highlight intersections between various social systems and art. He has published books with Aint-Bad Editions (PULLED FROM PUBLISHER) and Kris Graves Projects. His most recent monograph, At No Point In Between (Dais Books), was selected as the winner of the Independently Published category of the Lucie Foundation Photo Book Awards. Murff is also a Co-Curator of Strange Fire Collective, a group of interdisciplinary artists, writers, and curators working to construct and promote an archive of artwork created by diverse makers. Murff is represented by Webber Gallery, London. Asterisks in The Grand Narrative of History is curated by Jay Simple and Emma Steinkraus. @zorajmurff @emmasteinkraus @jaysimplephoto @longwooduniversity @hsc1776
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    Zora J Murff’s education in Psychology and his employment as a human services professional influenced his early experiences as an artist. Working with people in such capacities was deeply informative through its convolution. The ultimate goal of such work was to find ways to create a society where the positions themselves were obsolete. The foundation on which Murff’s artistic practice rests is no different: creating artwork meant to render their impacts defunct. Being immersed in social service environments gave Murff firsthand knowledge of the many—and lasting consequences of stigmatization. Photography contends with itself in similar ways, an ambivalent object; Images can be implements of harm and tools for liberation. They can make individuals into “others” while simultaneously providing concrete evidence on how that flawed logic exists. Murff uses the medium to create a critical discourse on those dynamics of power and oppression to give them names. His ultimate goal is to provide novel ways of thinking about images in service to institutional critique and reform. Zora J Murff is an Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Arkansas. He received his MFA from the University of Nebraska—Lincoln and holds a BS in Psychology from Iowa State University. Merging his educational experiences, Murff uses his practice to highlight intersections between various social systems and art. He has published books with Aint-Bad Editions (PULLED FROM PUBLISHER) and Kris Graves Projects. His most recent monograph, At No Point In Between (Dais Books), was selected as the winner of the Independently Published category of the Lucie Foundation Photo Book Awards. Murff is also a Co-Curator of Strange Fire Collective, a group of interdisciplinary artists, writers, and curators working to construct and promote an archive of artwork created by diverse makers. Murff is represented by Webber Gallery, London. Asterisks in The Grand Narrative of History is curated by Jay Simple and Emma Steinkraus. @zorajmurff @emmasteinkraus @jaysimplephoto @longwooduniversity @hsc1776
  • This Thursday, February 18 at 7:00, please join Zora J Murff, Richard-Jonathan Nelson, and Kieran Myles-Andrés Tverbakk in conversation with Jay Simple and Emma Steinkraus in the first session of Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History Symposium. This virtual event is free and registration is required. Link in bio, or visit lcva.longwood.edu @zorajmurff @rich_nels @kieranito @jaysimplephoto @emmasteinkraus @longwooduniversity @hsc1776
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    This Thursday, February 18 at 7:00, please join Zora J Murff, Richard-Jonathan Nelson, and Kieran Myles-Andrés Tverbakk in conversation with Jay Simple and Emma Steinkraus in the first session of Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History Symposium. This virtual event is free and registration is required. Link in bio, or visit lcva.longwood.edu @zorajmurff @rich_nels @kieranito @jaysimplephoto @emmasteinkraus @longwooduniversity @hsc1776
  • The Longwood Center for the Visual Arts and Hampden-Sydney College are excited to announce a series of Zoom symposiums presented in conjunction with the exhibition Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History, an intimate yet ambitious exhibition that spans two university/college galleries. Curated by Jay Simple and Emma Steinkraus, this exhibition addresses relevant questions about how artists interrogate history, and what kinds of new historical records artists can create. The symposiums will take place on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. on February 18, February 25, and March 11, 2021. Registration link in bio. Simple and Steinkraus note that “the histories and stories recounted here are not hidden counter-narratives but are always present to those who are willing to hear and observe. The artists in Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History are mediums for communication with the past, but their work also creates new archives that leave messages for our future.” Seen together, their work proposes visual representations that help us figure out how we got here, how we belong, and why we want - or find troubling - the lives we are told to live. The first Zoom symposium will be held on February 18 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. and includes artists, Zora J Murff, Richard-Jonathan Nelson, and Kieran Myles-Andrés Tverbakk. The second symposium on February 26 features a film screening and artist talk by Amir George. The final symposium on March 11 showcases artist talks by Anina Major, Becci Davis, Jason Patterson, and Marisa Williamson. All Zoom symposiums will be held on Thursday evenings from 7-8:30 p.m. Registration link in bio. @jaysimplephoto @emmasteinkraus @geoauteur @aninamajor @rich_nels @zorajmurff @kieranito @bdavissynergy @jason_patterson @marisaswilliamson @longwooduniversity @hsc1776
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    The Longwood Center for the Visual Arts and Hampden-Sydney College are excited to announce a series of Zoom symposiums presented in conjunction with the exhibition Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History, an intimate yet ambitious exhibition that spans two university/college galleries. Curated by Jay Simple and Emma Steinkraus, this exhibition addresses relevant questions about how artists interrogate history, and what kinds of new historical records artists can create. The symposiums will take place on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. on February 18, February 25, and March 11, 2021. Registration link in bio. Simple and Steinkraus note that “the histories and stories recounted here are not hidden counter-narratives but are always present to those who are willing to hear and observe. The artists in Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History are mediums for communication with the past, but their work also creates new archives that leave messages for our future.” Seen together, their work proposes visual representations that help us figure out how we got here, how we belong, and why we want - or find troubling - the lives we are told to live. The first Zoom symposium will be held on February 18 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. and includes artists, Zora J Murff, Richard-Jonathan Nelson, and Kieran Myles-Andrés Tverbakk. The second symposium on February 26 features a film screening and artist talk by Amir George. The final symposium on March 11 showcases artist talks by Anina Major, Becci Davis, Jason Patterson, and Marisa Williamson. All Zoom symposiums will be held on Thursday evenings from 7-8:30 p.m. Registration link in bio. @jaysimplephoto @emmasteinkraus @geoauteur @aninamajor @rich_nels @zorajmurff @kieranito @bdavissynergy @jason_patterson @marisaswilliamson @longwooduniversity @hsc1776
  • Anina Major, an artist in Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History, is a visual artist whose work investigates the relationship between self and place as a site of negotiation, in efforts to cultivate a sense of belonging. Her work draws from historical and contemporary ethnography to challenge post-colonial ideology and advocate for critical dialog around developing cultural identity. bell hooks states “Black women have not focused sufficiently on our need for contemplative spaces. We are often ‘too busy’ to find time for solitude. And yet it is in the stillness that we also learn how to be with ourselves in a spirit of acceptance and peace. Then when we re-enter the community, we are able to extend this acceptance to others. Without knowing how to be alone, we cannot know how to be with others and sustain the necessary autonomy.” Haven offers a place for stillness. It is a sculptural installation inspired by an image of Angela Davis speaking at Madison Square Garden, June 29, 1972; in which she stood behind a four-sided bullet proof shield. The space created by Haven, harnesses the historical energy held by Davis to examine the politics of protection, vulnerability and the paradox of hypervisibility and invisibility of Black women. The decision to voluntarily establish a home contrary to the location in which Anina Major was born and raised (The Bahamas) motivates the artist to investigate the relationship between self and place as a site of negotiation. By utilizing the vernacular of craft to reclaim experiences and relocate displaced objects, Major’s practice exists at the intersection of nostalgia, identity and commerce. Often taking form in a wide range of media, including installation, sculpture, time-based video and performance, it may reference tropical ecologies as well as historical and contemporary ethnography. The work unpacks the emotional complexities inherent to the transcultural dialogue that surfaces when mapping the migration of traditions versus foreign influences. This constant state of liminality helps Major develop a deeper sense of belonging and leaves openings for others to enter the work and relate to its meanings. @aninamajor
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    Anina Major, an artist in Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History, is a visual artist whose work investigates the relationship between self and place as a site of negotiation, in efforts to cultivate a sense of belonging. Her work draws from historical and contemporary ethnography to challenge post-colonial ideology and advocate for critical dialog around developing cultural identity. bell hooks states “Black women have not focused sufficiently on our need for contemplative spaces. We are often ‘too busy’ to find time for solitude. And yet it is in the stillness that we also learn how to be with ourselves in a spirit of acceptance and peace. Then when we re-enter the community, we are able to extend this acceptance to others. Without knowing how to be alone, we cannot know how to be with others and sustain the necessary autonomy.” Haven offers a place for stillness. It is a sculptural installation inspired by an image of Angela Davis speaking at Madison Square Garden, June 29, 1972; in which she stood behind a four-sided bullet proof shield. The space created by Haven, harnesses the historical energy held by Davis to examine the politics of protection, vulnerability and the paradox of hypervisibility and invisibility of Black women. The decision to voluntarily establish a home contrary to the location in which Anina Major was born and raised (The Bahamas) motivates the artist to investigate the relationship between self and place as a site of negotiation. By utilizing the vernacular of craft to reclaim experiences and relocate displaced objects, Major’s practice exists at the intersection of nostalgia, identity and commerce. Often taking form in a wide range of media, including installation, sculpture, time-based video and performance, it may reference tropical ecologies as well as historical and contemporary ethnography. The work unpacks the emotional complexities inherent to the transcultural dialogue that surfaces when mapping the migration of traditions versus foreign influences. This constant state of liminality helps Major develop a deeper sense of belonging and leaves openings for others to enter the work and relate to its meanings. @aninamajor
  • Now on view, Becci Davis’s @bdavissynergy creative practice explores private and collective memory. It questions how to engage with an archive whose source and steward has historically been the oppressive culture that ignored, suppressed, and erased the contributions of the artist’s forebears. Working across disciplines, Davis collects still and moving images, documents, sound, and oral narratives. Using this collection of evidence, combined with her own interpretation and response, she constructs what Pierre Nora would call ‘realms of memory’, devices for remembering people, places, and events. These devices create a new history and personal geography, bringing visibility to hidden histories and merging collective memory and popular culture with personal recollections. This work explores the reciprocal relationship between environment and inhabitant by constructing spaces that serve as monuments of duality: past and present, interiority and the exterior environment, strength and oppression, obsolescence and relevance, memory and recorded history, evidence and critique. Davis was born on a military installation in Georgia named after General Henry L. Benning of the Confederate States Army. Her birth initiated her family’s first generation after the Civil Rights Act and its fifth generation post-Emancipation. Davis is a Rhode Island-based interdisciplinary artist who finds inspiration in exploring natural and cultural landscapes, as well as, her experiences as a daughter, mother, American, and Southern born and raised, Black woman. After earning an MFA from Lesley University College of Art and Design in 2017, Davis was the recipient of the St. Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist Award in Visual Art, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Fellowship in New Genres, the Providence Public Library Creative Fellowship, and the RISD Museum Artist Fellowship. She was also featured as one of Art New England magazine’s 10 Emerging Artists of 2019. Davis is currently an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Visual Art at Brown University. Images: In the Shadow of Dixie, MOTHERROOT, and installed at LCVA For more information please click link in bio.
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    Now on view, Becci Davis’s @bdavissynergy creative practice explores private and collective memory. It questions how to engage with an archive whose source and steward has historically been the oppressive culture that ignored, suppressed, and erased the contributions of the artist’s forebears. Working across disciplines, Davis collects still and moving images, documents, sound, and oral narratives. Using this collection of evidence, combined with her own interpretation and response, she constructs what Pierre Nora would call ‘realms of memory’, devices for remembering people, places, and events. These devices create a new history and personal geography, bringing visibility to hidden histories and merging collective memory and popular culture with personal recollections. This work explores the reciprocal relationship between environment and inhabitant by constructing spaces that serve as monuments of duality: past and present, interiority and the exterior environment, strength and oppression, obsolescence and relevance, memory and recorded history, evidence and critique. Davis was born on a military installation in Georgia named after General Henry L. Benning of the Confederate States Army. Her birth initiated her family’s first generation after the Civil Rights Act and its fifth generation post-Emancipation. Davis is a Rhode Island-based interdisciplinary artist who finds inspiration in exploring natural and cultural landscapes, as well as, her experiences as a daughter, mother, American, and Southern born and raised, Black woman. After earning an MFA from Lesley University College of Art and Design in 2017, Davis was the recipient of the St. Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist Award in Visual Art, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Fellowship in New Genres, the Providence Public Library Creative Fellowship, and the RISD Museum Artist Fellowship. She was also featured as one of Art New England magazine’s 10 Emerging Artists of 2019. Davis is currently an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Visual Art at Brown University. Images: In the Shadow of Dixie, MOTHERROOT, and installed at LCVA For more information please click link in bio.