Art Fact Friday #18 Nov 24th Sydney James
- William Mandela Matthews
- Nov 24, 2023
- 2 min read
Last but certainly not least of 4 Detroit artists I will be highlighting during November. Sydney is making an impact in the contemporary art world. I was able to ask 4 interview questions that pertain to the artist outlook and position in modern art.
Thank you @sydneygjames for sharing your insights and perspective.
William
1.How is your vision expressed
in your art work?
Sydney
My art work is a literal representation of my vision. Each of pieces has a personal artists statement and theses statements express my vision.
William
2.What would you say is your primary motivation for creating?
Sydney
My primary motivation is a love for creating. I live my art the world inspires me to make sense of the things hardest to understand. I is who I am.
William
3.What advice do you have for emerging artist?
Sydney
Emerging artist should study and practice their craft everyday what ever discipline it may be. Ask questions and seek mentorship. The best way to learn is to work in the space you want to be. Seek to assist others who are professional. Offer to help.
William
4.Where do you see your self in the contemporary art market?
Sydney
I don’t see myself in the contemporary art market. My happiness is my concern, not others validation.
Born and raised in Detroit, Sydney James began her career in advertising as an Art Director after earning her BFA from the College of Creative Studies in 2001. In 2004, James relocated to Los Angeles to expand her career into film and television. She returned to Detroit in 2011. Sydney has become a leading creative voice in Southeast Michigan. Exploring themes of the racial and gender positioning of the black woman in America as “last” or “least among others” in society, has been the central theme in Sydney’s work recently. Her portraits and murals seek to reposition this narrative of the black woman’s visibility and importance bringing them to the forefront of the conversation. Influenced by the artists Barkley L. Hendricks, Hubert Massey, Jenny Saville and the Afri-COBRA collective, Sydney’s art expands figurative painting with bold brushwork, colors and imagery.
James has displayed her art at MOCAD, the Charles H. Wright Museum, Inner State Gallery, PLAYGROUND DETROIT, Collective Detroit Gallery, Detroit Artist Market, Red Bull House of Art, and Janice Charach gallery. She has completed public murals in Detroit for the 2015-2018 Murals in the Market (recognized by Smithsonian Magazine as one of the world’s best), New Orleans, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Pow Wow Hawaii, Pow Wow Long Beach, Pow Wow Worcester, and Accra, Ghana. Sydney is the recipient of the prestigous 2017 Kresge Fellowship award. She recently created artwork at Essence Fest 2019 for Ford Motor Company, and is featured as one of the campaign faces of The Lip Bar cosmetics.
Her mural of Malice Green, “The Malice Green Mural Monument,” appears on the side of the Hamilton-Tucker Gallery on the border of Detroit and Hamtramck. Most recently, she completed The Girl with the D Earring, a mural on the Chroma Building in Detroit. She has also painted murals in New Orleans, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Ghana. James served as a 2021 Kresge Artist Fellowship panelist in Visual Arts.
#visualart #art #contemporaryart #artist #artwork #painting #design #illustration #artoftheday #drawing #artistsoninstagram #fineart #creative #visual #artgallery #visualartist #modernart #portrait
References:
https://kresgeartsindetroit.org/artist/sydney-g-james/#:~:text=James,-Visual%20Arts&text=Born%20and%20raised%20in%20Detroit,the%20film%20and%20television%20industry.
Comments