Visual Art Exhibit

Visual Art Exhibit:
MASK UP: To Save Black Lives

February 15 - April 30, 2021
LIVE STREAMING: Alfrosolo.org ,Facebook, Instagram

AfroSolo joins the battle to save the lives of Black people from COVID-19. According to the experts, Black lives can be saved by wearing masks or facial covering. We embrace President Biden’s call to make his first 100 Days in office a war on this insidious virus. Wearing a mask is especially important now because too many Black people are dying from it. Our exhibition has four parts:
01

We have invited artists to create works to inspire us to wear masks.

02

We will provide information to keep you informed on the latest info regarding the virus.

03

We invite members of our community to send selfies of themselves wearing masks. We will use these photos to encourage others to do the same.

04

We also fervently urge you to consider getting vaccinated. If you do, please let us know.

ROBERT MELTON| Curator

Robert Melton is the curator for AfroSolo where he curated several art shows. Melton also serves as the co-chair for the Member-Led Arts Forum and curator for San Francisco Commonwealth Club. Melton is a freelance curator, a community events arts organizer and formerly the outreach coordinator/curator for de Young College Arts Programs. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history and ethnic studies and a Master degree in museums studies. His background includes years of curatorial and public events experience throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of these venues include: de Young Museum, San Francisco State University, Bay Area art colleges, San Francisco Main Public Library, SomArts, San Francisco LGBT Pride Art Pavilion, Fillmore Artwalk and Sunday Streets. Melton serves as a jury member for the Arts for Aids annual fundraiser, a committee member for the SF Symphony Ellen Magnin Newman Award and an advisory board member for San Francisco State University Global Museum.

GENE DOMINIQUE | Photographer

Depicting essential workers and our neighbors wearing masks goes a long way toward normalizing the practice. When we see people we know and people we respect wearing masks in order to protect the community from Covid-19 that highlights how important it is for everyone to follow suit. Early on during the pandemic I set about to document essential workers on the front lines around the Bay Area. On a walk up California Street in April I met a Brother standing guard in front of the Bank of America building. He was standing tall and proud so when I asked him if I could make his portrait, he gladly agreed and adopted a regal pose. In May my dentist agreed to let me make her portrait. Her office was open to treat patients with emergencies. About the pandemic she said “we trained for things like Covid-19 throughout our education, our job now is to keep people out of pain and out of hospital emergency rooms.” Marily and Lydia are granddaughter and grandmother who have been separately quarantining since March. My goal is to make them look awesome wearing masks.

2021 Visual Gene Dominique Mask Up_Marilyn-1
2021 Visual Gene Dominique Mask Up An Essential Worker-2
2021 Visual Gene Dominique Mask Up_Lydia-1

DANIELLE MATTHEWS |Painter

Jamaican artist living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area, and graduate of the Academy of Art University with an MFA in Painting. I have participated in student showcases at the SRISA in Florence, Italy and at the de Young Museum. I have also participated in group exhibitions at the San Francisco Public Library (with AfroSolo Theater Company), The San Francisco DA’s Office, and the African American Art Culture Center (at which I also had a solo exhibition). Most recently I was selected amongst other artists to be featured in the 2020 de Young Open. In 2016, I was featured in The Gleaner, Jamaica.

Triple Threat

Oil and acrylic in canvas
 20×24
2020
1,500.00

2021-Visual-Danielle-MATTTHEWS_Triple_Threat_UPDATED

ALEXANDRA NUNEZ |Visual Artist

Alexandra Nunez is a visual artist from the Bronx, New York. Her parents are natives from the Dominican Republic who migrated to the US in the late 1970s. She grew up in an urban community of immigrant families surrounded by social disparities, and she is a product of that diverse and challenging environment. Her interest in art began in high school, where she enjoyed drawing abstractions of her self-portraits. Alexandra completed her undergraduate studies at Lehman College, majoring in Studio Art and minoring in Secondary Education. Alexandra earned a Master’s Degree in painting from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and now lives in Oakland.

2021 Visual - Alexandra Nunez Mask Up!

Mask Up

Oil on canvas
20 x 20
10/9/20
$350

2021 Visual Alexandra Nunez. Covid on The Edge

Covid on The Edge

Oil on canvas
6/11/20
$250