‘Space has to be made for Black artists’
Black Artists Union exhibits work at Centre[3]
A new exhibition by a group of artists wants to show how cooperation can transform art.
“WIP” — Work in Progress — is a collection of work curated by Jemini Baptiste, Oreka James, Sylvia Limbana and Ekow Stone, all members of the Black Artists Union (BAU).
Formed by emerging artists in 2016, the Toronto-based collective supports and highlights the work of Black artists in local communities.
Last year, the group was part of the Incite Foundation Residency for artists at Centre[3] — an artistrun centre on James Street North.
Through the residency, the artists worked individually and together, using different art approaches such as screen printing, painting, video and installation.
Stone said many of the pieces at the exhibition are not “fully complete,” showing the residency’s experimentation and creative process.
“We wanted to have a show that represented what each of the artists was working on,” Stone said.
The 27-year-old studied Environment and Urban Sustainability at Toronto Metropolitan University and is a youth engagement coordinator at FoodShare in Toronto.
When he is not managing vegetable production or coordinating educational programming, Stone is in the studio with a pen, exploring themes of creation, origins, and transformation through art.
At museums, you can find him in the ancient civilization section.
“I explore those worlds through my creative practice and depict different happenings fictionally and non-fictionally with my work of the beginning of the world and time,” Stone said.
Stone divides his time between being an educator and an artist, but managing both can be challenging. He said commuting from Toronto to Hamilton was “hard and timeconsuming.”
“If anything goes wrong during the process — when you are working with screen-printing — you have to start all over again,” Stone said. “Getting there (to Hamilton) and dedicating time to all that stuff was the most challenging.”
Stone said the collective has influenced and impacted each other’s art practice throughout the residency.
“There are a lot of elements in my work that were influenced by Sylvia encouraging me to use colour,” Stone said. “Almost every piece (at the exhibition) has a bit of the other
Black Artists Union group members from left to right: Oreka James, Sylvia Limbana, Ekow Stone, and Jemini Baptiste.
artist in the piece.”
Stone said it was a great experience to exhibit his work at the Centre[3], and he looks forward to coming back to Hamilton. “We really enjoyed that space in particular.”
Centre[3]’s artistic director Lesley Loksi Chan said young artists must have the time and space to “explore their craft and stretch in new directions.
“Self-representation is saying no to dominant culture telling us who we are, who we can be, what we can make, what ‘good art’ is,” Chan said.
Stone recommends visitors take time with the exhibition and “definitely” open up a piece of mystery furniture on display.
For Jemini Baptiste — also part of Incite’s art residency — visitors should consider practising some form of art after going to the exhibit.
“I hope people look at the art and go make something of their own and search inside themselves and start creating,” Baptiste said. “Art is just practice.”
Baptiste said the art pieces are complete and part of an upcoming larger piece.
Baptiste recently joined BAU and defines the collective as “a reflection of the real world” where artists meet people from different backgrounds and experiences.
“I’m thankful to have met other Black artists that opened me into a world with many other people,” Baptiste said. “It gave me gratitude to walk alongside other artists whose art I genuinely enjoy.”
The artist said, “space has to be made” for Black artists and that Centre[3] was “kind and intentional” to ask how the collective wanted to brand themselves for the exhibition — and added, “there is no excuse” at this point not to be intentional with diversity.
“An intentional way of doing it is putting the control in somebody else’s hand,” Baptiste said. “That is the only way I see diversity happen.”
That control includes representation all year round.
Baptiste said the attention Black artists receive this month is “deserved and expected,” but it shouldn’t stop on March 1.
“I would suggest — don’t expect Black people — during Black history month — to fit your diversity quota.”
While in university, Baptiste felt pressured by professors to fill some of these quotas and only produce Black art. “You should allow Black people to make art about nature, portraits, landscapes. Not just Black bodies and Black art.”
“Personally, I do not want to be the sole representation for my entire community,” Baptiste said. “It’s not possible, and I don’t want to.”
Baptiste said the Hamilton art community feels more friendly, and producing art in the city felt like a way of “escaping” Toronto’s “intensity and pressure.”
“In Hamilton, you are allowed just to be,” Baptiste said. “Hamilton is communal, supportive and friendly.”