October 17, 6-8 PM
Sheila C. Design Center, Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries
66 5th Ave, Ground Floor
New York, NY 10003
Closing reception with artist talk: October 27th, 6-8pm
(under)REPRESENT(ed) is an exhibition that features Parsons School of Design alumni of color whose creative practices explore the lived experience of race and aim to dismantle systems of racism. Initiated and organized by a collective of alumni of color, this exhibition features a range of disciplines which simultaneously address and resist the systemic exclusion that prevails in educational and professional institutions and practices.
A video from a digital and physical archive that affirms the future of people of African descent; a design research project lessens the impact of hurricane season on one alum’s hometown in the Dominican Republic; a children’s book fable reveals an allegory of the dangerous journey migrants often face to enter the United States; an online syllabus resource explores the intersections of fashion and race; photographs reflect on the historic status symbol and power of hair in Korean culture, which resonates in communities across the globe; and a multimedia project promotes citizen journalism and challenges the normalization of police violence.
“We are moved by an urgency to foreground the power generated by creative practices,” said the curators of the exhibition. “Our own experience as students, practicing artists, designers, educators and cultural organizers tells us that this work isn’t always given its due criticism or celebration in the classroom and other institutional spaces.”
People of color have been pioneers in fields of art and design, although they continue to be significantly underrepresented in positions of power and compensation. Despite the rich foundational contributions by Black, Latinx, Asian, and Indigenous communities to these industries, they are often rendered invisible. The curators of this exhibition stake a claim for the centrality of those most deeply impacted by these oppressive frameworks in an era which challenges our existing tools of resistance.
The Parsons alumni featured in the exhibition are (AMT Alums in bold):
Salome Asega, MFA Design and Technology ’14
Rikki Byrd, MA Fashion Studies ’16
Raquel de Anda, MS Design and Urban Ecologies ’15
Nelson de Jesus Ubri, BFA Architectural Design ’15
Patricia Encarnación, BFA Communication Design ’14
Noelle Flores Théard, MFA Photography ’14
Scherezade Garcia, BFA Illustration ’90
Alston Green, CGRD Illustration ’72
Kim Jenkins, MA Fashion Studies ’13
Leslie Jimenez, BFA Fine Arts ’12
Sara Jimenez, MFA Fine Arts ’13
Yuni Kim Lang, BFA Communication Design ’09
Jeana Lindo, BFA Photography ’17
Joy McKinney, MFA Photography ’14
Joiri Minaya, BFA Fine Arts ’13
Ron Morrison, MS Design and Urban Ecologies ’15
Inyegumena Nosegbe, BFA Communication Design ’16
Ayodamola Okunseinde, MFA Design and Technology ’15
Isaac Paris, BFA Communication Design ’78
Kaitlynn Redell, MFA Fine Arts ’13
Jeff Staple, Illustration
Ken Tanabe, MFA Design and Technology ’04
James Terrell, MFA Painting ’02
Duncan Tonatiuh, BFA Integrated Design Curriculum ’08, BA Liberal Arts ’08
Robert Liu-Trujillo, BFA Illustration ’10
Christopher Udemezue, BFA Integrated Design Curriculum ’08
…
Organized by a collective of Parsons Alumni of Color
Havanna Fisher, BFA Fashion Design ’14, BA The Arts ’14
Scherezade García, BFA Illustration ’90
Joelle Riffle, BFA Communication Design ’13
Yelaine Rodríguez, BFA Fashion Design ’13
Sable Elyse Smith, MFA Design and Technology ’13
Nadia Williams, BFA Fashion Design ’01
(under)REPRESENT(ed) equity + social justice advisor: Gail Drakes
(under)REPRESENT(ed) research assistant: Claudine Brantley, BFA Candidate of Photography ’18
(under)REPRESENT(ed) research assistant: Barbara Byrd, BFA Fine Arts ’17
Contact us at underrepresented@newschool.edu
The exhibition will run from October 14, when an opening reception for Parsons alumni will be held, until October 29.
More info here.
