Join us for an artist talk in celebration of MoAD's current exhibition Spectrum: On Color & Contemporary Art. Artists Tawny Chatmon and Delita Martin will be in conversation with MoAD's Chief of Curatorial Affairs and Public Programs Key Jo Lee to discuss how artists in this group exhibition use color to guide our perception. Spectrum brings together a multigenerational and international group of seventeen contemporary Black artists who illuminate the importance of color to both the form and content of their work.  

‍

‍

Tawny Chatmon is a photography-based artist residing in Maryland who takes a multi-layered approach in her process. She does not restrict herself to following any set of rules and does not subscribe exclusively to traditional photography practices. Her photographs are often digitally intensified by exaggerating the hairstyles of her subjects (who are often her children and other family members), while also hand painting and embellishing her portraits with acrylic paint, 24-karat gold leaf, in addition to materials such as paper, semi-precious stones, glass, and other mixed media.

‍

‍

Delita Martin is a contemporary artist living and working in Huffman, Texas. Martin’s work explores the beauty and complexity of spiritual identities of African American Women.  Through her mixed-media printmaking practice, which includes the layering of various printmaking processes, drawing, painting, collaging, and hand-stitching she celebrates their strength and resilience in a world that often overlooks or devalues them. Through her use of pattern, texture, and color, she creates immersive veilscapes (spirit worlds) that are deeply personal yet accessible to viewers.  Her distinctive style combines elements of realism, abstractions, and symbolism, creating bold and beautiful portraits of Black women as they transition between the spirit world and the waking world. Martin’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and publications both national and international, including the 2022 Venice Biennale. She continues to explore the complex layers of identity and experiences, celebration the powerful legacy of African American Women.

‍

‍

‍

‍Key Jo Lee is chief of curatorial affairs and public programs at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco. With more than a decade of experience as a curator, museum educator, and academic, Lee is dedicated to creating exhibitions, publications, and experiences that invite transformational relationships with art. In her role at MoAD, Lee oversees the divisional strategic direction for the museum’s exhibitions, programs, and education departments in order to expand MoAD’s reach and influence locally, nationally, and internationally. She is responsible for the overall management and execution of the museum’s curatorial vision, including its exhibitions, publications, and public and educational programs, and plays an important role in the organization’s outreach, communications, and digital strategy.

‍

Prior to joining MoAD in January 2023, Lee was the associate curator of American Art at The Cleveland Museum of Art, where she curated the innovative exhibition, Currents & Constellations: Black Art in Focus, which included five permanent gallery interventions and introduced a new format to the museum. Lee has a dual master’s degree from and is PhD candidate in History of Art and African American Studies at Yale University. Her first book, Perceptual Drift: Black Art and an Ethics of Looking, was published by Yale University Press and The Cleveland Museum of Art in January 2023. Her essay, “Gesturing Towards Infinitude: Painting Blue/Black Cosmologies,” will be published this fall in the catalogue Going Dark: The Figure at the Edge of Visibility (Guggenheim 2023). ‍

‍

‍

This program is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Spectrum: On Color & Contemporary Art, on view at MoAD from September 27, 2023-March 3, 2024.