Process + Practice
JULY 2020
Against the backdrop of our current climate, six black men, lead by our current artist in residence, Larry Cook, will dive into what their art practice has meant to them. They will examine what inspires them, how their aesthetics have developed, and how their practice has adapted, changed, or been influenced. The conversation will explore how context and studio matters and the community's relationship to their practice to gain new insight into each artist's process and practice.
\ OUR HOSTS
Larry W. Cook is a conceptual artist whose work spans installation, video, and photography. Cook received his MFA from George Washington University and has exhibited his work nationally at the National Portrait Gallery (2019), The National Gallery of Art (2017), and the Baltimore Museum of Art (2016). Cook was awarded the 2020 Nicholson Project Artist in Residency. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Photography at Howard University.
Charles Jean-Pierre is a Haitian American artist groomed on Chicago’s south side. He is currently an adjunct professor at American University in Fine Arts. As U.S. State Department Art in Embassies Artist, his work is now in the permanent collection of the U.S. Embassy in Cotonou, Benin West Africa. He was a President Obama White House invitee for the role of art education in promoting national youth justice. Jean Pierre has participated in two Asian Pacific American Smithsonian exhibitions and has exhibited with the International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington DC. His work has been highlighted by numerous media outlets including; The Washington Post, Ebony Magazine, Black Enterprise, NHK Japan, The Village Voice, BET, NBC, Netflix and FOX.
Jean-Pierre has guest lectured at Stanford University regarding a positive vision of Haiti through the Mamelodi Project. He was named top five art educators by the District of Columbia and served as a creative communication instructor for Alvin Ailey Chicago. Jean-Pierre is the former National Arts Director for the Young and Powerful group and served on the board of the Diaspora of African Woman Network (DAWN). Jean Pierre holds a Masters of Arts from Howard University and has created public art murals in South Africa, Panama, New York, Chicago, Washington, Istanbul, Montreal, Port-au-Prince, London, and Paris.
David Ibata is an American painter from the Washington DC metropolitan area. He received his education from the Corcoran College of Art & Design (BFA, 2008) followed by the New York Academy of Art (MFA, 2010). Since 2011, David has worked in museum education in affiliation with the National Portrait Gallery and National Gallery of Art. He currently serves on the Board of the Washington Studio School.
Michael Booker is a mixed media artist originally from Jackson, Mississippi that currently resides in Maryland. He received his BFA in Studio Art – Painting from Mississippi State University in 2008, and received his MFA in Studio Art from University of Maryland in 2012. He has exhibited in various galleries across Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, Maine, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC. His work has been acquired by the David C. Driskell Center in College Park, MD. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor of Art at Montgomery College Takoma Park/Silver Springs. He is represented by Morton Fine Art in Washington DC.
Wesley Clark received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from Syracuse University and a Master of Fine Arts from The George Washington University — where he was awarded the Morris Louis Fellowship in 2010.
Wesley Clark has exhibited works at institutions such as the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington DC; Columbia College Glass Curtain Gallery, Chicago, Illinois; Fisk University, Nashville Tennessee; University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, Maryland; as well as Scope and Prizm Art Fair, Miami, Florida during Art Basel.
Clark’s work, My Big Black America, was acquired by the Asheville Art Museum in 2017. His work can be found in public and private collections such as The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Duke Ellington School for the Arts, and Kaiser Permanente. In 2016 Clark was commissioned by The American Alliance of Museums to create a temporary public artwork. That foray has led to several permanent public artworks located throughout Washington, DC and Maryland.
Lionel Frazier White III is a D.C native. He attended The Duke Ellington School of the Arts High School. There he learned the basic fundamentals of being an artist. He now attends George Washington University Corcoran School of art and Design. Lionel white is an aspiring arts educator and artist. He has a passion for art and for youth and helping to enrich there foundation so that it impacts them as the grow older. Lionel wishes to use is art work and his life work to impact lives.