BLACK: Outside the Box
by Tramaine Wilkes
Exhibition: March 28 - April 1, 2023
Reception: Friday, March 31st, 6pm - 8pm
What does it mean to be Black? Not African-American, but BLACK? And who has the right to claim it, paint, sculpt it, write it, or teach it? BLACK: Outside the Box (2023) is a visual journal that explores what it means to “live while black?”. The cross-medium of works are political and social. History, pop culture, and personal narratives create a line of sight that is as unique and diverse as BLACK is.
Do you see me now? During grad school this was the constant question driving my creative practice and approach to what has been created. My number one goal is that those who identify as Black to feel visible. Goal number two. For anyone who feels invisible to create a world, and or a space, where they are noticed and seen through their own lens.
More About Tre
I am a multidisciplinary artist that is interested in activism, community, and contemporary narratives that relate to black histories.
My art is mainly a response to the classical old master paintings hanging on the walls of art museums around the world. But it also includes literature, film, music and media. I study their messages, compositions, application, and statements, then I take that information and filter it through my own unique black experience.
I mix classical figurative representation with urban expressions of freedom using text, oils, acrylic, spray paint, color, photography, video, and object making. Looking at one of my paintings or objects you will be met with a history lesson. Some of the iconography is easier than others to recognize. I twist it, pull it, layer it, and reclaim it in a way that is true to me.
My making is diverse because access is important. People engage with art in different ways, and that difference leads me to create within multiple disciplines. Accessibility also refers to resources. My object making comes from finding discarded materials and using them to build canvases, boxing rings, basketball goals and even more.
Most importantly I want my culture to see themselves within the work. To see that they are worthy, beautiful, and enough.
Learn more about Tre and his work at www.trewilkes.com
