Central Virginia Times

PVCC Visual Arts to Host Opening Reception for Exhibition - Black Joy Is: Ferocious, Fearless, Forever, Female, For Me 

The Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) Visual Arts Department will hold an opening reception for its latest exhibition, featuring works by nine African-American female artists that examine the source of their joys. “Black Joy Is: Ferocious, Fearless, Forever, Female, For Me” opens in the PVCC Gallery Friday, January 27, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Curator Veronica Jackson will lead visitors to the exhibition through a “walk and talk” at 6 p.m. The exhibition will show through March 25. 

The exhibition asks the question: in the face of modern-day challenges, where do African American women find joy? Some of the pieces in the “Black Joy Is” exhibition provide answers that are straightforward. Painters Tori Cherry and Bolanle Adeboye both highlight the joy of creating intimate portraits of black people. Somé Louis offers work that is less direct, exploring how personal rituals create a sense of peace and calm.  

For photographer Kori Price, creating community portraits is the answer. Benita Mayo’s photograph of a coastal landscape serenely evokes journeys both internal and external. Mixed media artists IBe’ Crawley and Tobiah Mundt work in collage, fiber and tufted yard–materials historically belonging in the sphere of so-called “women’s work.”  

Other works address the complexity and multi-faceted reality that is black joy. Artist Zoe Charlton’s print directly addresses the historical struggles associated with labor, land ownership and power. Veronica Jackson’s text-based work often both confronts and conceals meanings.  

Jackson, an alumna of UVA’s architecture school, has spent much of her career working as an exhibit designer in Washington DC. She has recently returned to Central Virginia and has turned her attention to the visual arts. Jackson creates work that is autobiographical and critically visualizes gender and race in America. 

Entry to the PVCC Gallery is free. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m.; and during Fine Arts and Performance evening events in the V. Earl Dickinson Building. For more information, contact Fenella Belle at 434.961.5362 or fbelle@pvcc.edu. 

The PVCC Gallery is in the V. Earl Dickinson Building, located on the PVCC main campus at the south end of 501 College Drive. To view more events in the PVCC Fine Arts and Performance season lineup, visit www.pvcc.edu/performingarts. 

Original source can be found here