Key SUNY showing for Engels the Artist

It’s a first for both the Neuberger Museum of Art at the State University of New York’s Purchase College and Haiti-born Engels the Artist — his 2016 “Once Was I” artwork has been added to the museum’s exclusive permanent collection and is set to appear in a big upcoming exhibition.

The artist’s abstract, oil on canvas “Once Was I” will be among the works featured in this spring’s exhibit, “Color and Motion, Ideas and Dreams: Modern and Contemporary Caribbean and South American Art from the Collection.”

Currently open for students and staff on campus’ the exhibition is tentatively scheduled to open to the public on May 26.

“Color and Motion, Ideas and Dreams” will look at the “artistic trends that emerged between the 1960s and 1970s, many of which are evident in the work of contemporary artists practicing today,” according to the organizers.

The exhibition showcases more than 25 selected prints, paintings and photographs from the Neuberger Museum of Art’s Permanent Collection, including Engels the Artist, Henry Bermudez, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Leda Catunda and others.

Engels, a self-taught artist, honed his unique abstract style and connected with his Haitian roots for more than three decades by creating artworks made with wood, metal, glass, paint, fabric, photographs and other materials.

For more details, visit the “Current Exhibitions” at neuberger.org website. And get more information by sending email to nma@purchase.edu or call (914) 251-6100.

Learn more about Engels the Artist at engelstheartist.com.

’Protest and Mourning’ art

“On Protest and Mourning” — a comprehensive digital exhibition capturing the “sentiment of collective resilience, sorrow, and mobilization against systemic injustice and police violence” through an array of mediums — is being presented by the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute in Manhattan.

“On Protest and Mourning” brings together photographers and filmmakers who have recorded and borne witness to our uprisings and to our simultaneous insistence that the lives taken prematurely are mourned in public space,” writes Guyana-born Grace Aneiza Ali, CCCADI curator-at-large and curator of the exhibition.

The exhibition is available through June 30, and includes a resource for educators. All the subsequent artists’ events will be hosted by Ali, and feature special guest speakers and activists. To view the show and learn more about the exhibition and artists’ events, visit onprotestandmourning. digital.

In addition to the many, varied works in “On Protest and Mourning,” there are sessions with the artists, beginning April 7 at 6 p.m. with a talk by Brooklyn photographer Jon Henry.

Henry — in a conversation with artist and writer Qiana Mestrich — will be discussing his “Stranger Fruit” series, “an ongoing body of work” that centers on Black mothers in pietà poses — which depict the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Jesus Christ on her lap or in her arms. The photographer started the series in 2014 — “the year we lost Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice at the hands of police.”

“I set out to photograph mothers with their sons in their environment, reenacting what it must feel like to endure this pain,” said Henry. “The mothers in the photographs have not lost their sons, but understand the reality that this could happen to their family.”

The Jon Henry “Stranger Fruit” session will include opening remarks by guest speaker social justice advocate Monifa Bandele with the Movement for Black Lives and Communities United for Police Reform.

“Many of the moments they capture show the precarious — how we participated in protest and mourning throughout our neighborhoods and cities all the while knowing the possibilities of more terror, more violence, more death loomed all around,” said Ali of the show’s artists and the message they convey.

And there are comprehensive aspects of “On Protest and Mourning,” with the inclusion of a Reading List, Viewing List, Listening List and suggested books to gain a deeper understanding of the subject.

Ocona’s BP bid

Community leader and small business owner Trisha Ocona has made her intentions known — she’s announced her candidacy for Brooklyn borough president.

“As a Brooklyn girl, I want to preserve Brooklyn’s brand as one of the greatest cities in the world,” said Ocona.

With a platform featuring “representation and advocacy for all Brooklynites,” Ocona, a Democrat, is backed by “a council of professional and community experts.”

Ocona — daughter of “Jamaican mother and Venezuelan father” — has experience gained by working on Brooklyn Community Board 17 and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. Learn more about the Ocona campaign at trishaocona.com.

Clarkes for Kevin Parker

You’ve got my support, Kevin Parker, said Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-Brooklyn) last week, as she endorsed the Brookyn state senator’s bid for city comptroller.

Parker also got the endorsement of the endorsement of Progressive Democrats Political Association of Central Brooklyn, and former City Councilwoman Una Clarke, the first Caribbean-born woman elected to the city’s legislative body, and Rep. Clarke’s mother.

“Sen. Parker has a distinguished track record of public service, dedication, excellence, and compassion, and is a leading voice nationwide on energy matters. He is a tireless advocate for women, the environment, public safety, and our communities — including the Caribbean-American community,” said Clarke.