Diversity and Unity in Art Through A Black Lense

Miami, home to myriad cultural groups and arts patrons, continues to embrace and celebrate artists who are showcasing the city’s diversity through their work.

“Rosie’s Fare” by Germane Barnes, Oolite Art’s newest exhibition, is a nontraditional installation featuring art collages and a kitchen set that explores Black identity in America. The show opened Oct. 20 and will be on view through Dec. 11 at Oolite’s studio on Lincoln Road.

Barnes’ exhibition builds on his previous installation at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, “Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America,” which examined the connection between architecture and the spaces of African American and African diaspora communities.

“Rosie’s Fare” celebrates the diversity of the African diaspora in Miami specifically, with each collage depicting a different ethnic group that’s rooted deeply in the community, such as Puerto Ricans, Haitians and Dominicans, and pays tribute to his grandmother, Rosie, 84, often called “Rosie Fair” for her beauty.

Barnes wanted this exhibition to focus on what it means to be Black in the kitchen. Besides a line of traditional spices carefully curated by the artist to represent the different rituals of each ethnicity, there is also a traditional salon seat. Barnes says this is typical of Black kitchens, which are frequently used as at-home salon spaces. It’s an exemplification of the complexities of Miami’s various ethnicities – as well as their commonalities.

The salon chair is meant to be sat in; Barnes hopes visitors photograph themselves in it and share the experience with others.

“I don’t care where you’re from in the diaspora, everybody knows that image,” he said. “Everybody has a sister or aunt that they watched get their hair done in the kitchen, and have their hair twisted, upset.”

The exhibition also honors Black contributions to American cuisine that are largely forgotten or overlooked. Barnes said Black cuisine has been improperly attributed and seen as lowbrow, and isn’t accepted as a high-level culinary endeavor, such as the much more lauded French and Italian cuisine. Black Americans are rarely given credit for the staples they created – like collard greens – while enslaved and being physically and sexually abused, creating generational trauma, he said.

Also addressed are the stereotypical gender roles of who is supposed to be in the kitchen. Barnes emphasized that as a descendant of enslaved people, he must remember the women, such as his grandmother, who were forced to work in kitchens and faced unwanted sexual advances and other repugnant domestic conflicts.

An audio component of the exhibition features interviews with individuals who shared their perspectives on what it means to be Black in Miami and in the kitchen. The movie “You Can Always Come Home” – which recently won first place at the Miami Film Festival and highlights joy, family and camaraderie – is another element.

Living in a place as vibrant as Miami, a place that he says has embraced him over the last 10 years, Barnes is committed to highlighting the multiplicities of the city and how, although many came ‘off the boat’ in different locations, we’re all connected.

Esther Park, Oolite Arts vice president of programming, said Barnes’ exhibition was chosen because the organization seeks to promote art that reflects the community, and wanted to showcase his particular vision of Black history as seen through everyday spaces, like the kitchen and the porch.

“He’s a phenomenon,” said Park.

Similarly, the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami (MOCA) is featuring artist Chire Regan, aka VantaBlack, through “To What Lengths,” an exhibition that’s part of its Art on the Plaza series.

VantaBlack is originally from St. Louis and now works in Miami. Her art addresses pressing societal issues and uplifts the voices of the community through acrylic, charcoal and textile pieces.

Running through Jan. 20, 2023, “To What Lengths” highlights the importance of preserving Black culture and the traditions of other diasporic populations. VantaBlack adorned five palm trees on the MOCA Plaza with large-scale braids embellished with beads, metal and artificial flowers.

The exhibition was inspired by the artist’s family, and she used those relationships to explore the concepts of legacy, femininity and Black womanhood. Each tree represents a woman in her family and the cultural importance of hair grooming and braiding.

VantaBlack explained that hair braiding is how her family members bond, express vulnerability and connect with one another. It’s also a way to honor the beauty and versatility of hair, as well as how Black women are increasingly embracing more natural, unmanipulated hair looks.

The seating around the trees is designed to resemble how you would sit when getting your hair braided. VantaBlack was very intentional about the location of her exhibition, as she wants it to speak directly to the community.

The artist expressed a desire to make her art accessible to all, because many people feel excluded from the art world. She focuses on underserved communities where the arts have been removed and tries to reintroduce those experiences because of the impact art had on her life when she was growing up. She said she hopes her exhibition is relatable and brings back vulnerable, safe and nostalgic memories of getting their hair done by a loved one.

VantaBlack also feels it is important to represent her cultural history and lineage, and the women in her family who made many sacrifices and created the foundation upon which she’s able do what she loves and be unapologetically herself.

“I’ve really been exploring what [it took] for me to be where I am as a practicing artist, as a current mother and as an activist, and who came before me laying the groundwork,” she said.