{"id":11644,"date":"2022-02-21T17:41:36","date_gmt":"2022-02-21T17:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/?p=11644"},"modified":"2022-02-21T17:41:36","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T17:41:36","slug":"baia-bits-ellsworth-ausby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earthexhibitions.org\/media-archive\/?p=11644","title":{"rendered":"BAIA BITS: Ellsworth Ausby"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAIA BITS<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Little Moments Where Knowledge Meets Art<\/em><\/p>\n\n

In 1972, abstract painter Ellsworth Ausby wrote about his ongoing quest to \u201cmirror the dynamo of our antecedent heritage despite the temerarious and presumptuous canons of the established art world.\u201d Consistent with such an intention, Ausby often looked to our rich African past to incorporate its aesthetic and legacy in his vibrant art.<\/p>\n

That said, the talented artist was far<\/em> from being stuck in the past. To the contrary, Ausby epitomized the African\"\" concept of Sankofa\u2014of pulling from the lessons of the past to move forward\u2014as he imagined an extraordinary Black future. In her September 2021 piece in The New Yorker, art reviewer Johanna Fateman depicted Ausby as an \u201cAfrofuturist abstract painter\u201d upon describing his 1974 work, Shabazz<\/em>: \u201cIn subsequent multipart compositions\u2026 with its rich hues and pointed barbell silhouette, Ausby liberated the canvas from its stretchers to stunning effect. These works seem to float, kitelike, on the white walls, giving fresh meaning to the exhibition\u2019s title, which is borrowed from a Sun Ra song: Somewhere in Space<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1942, Ausby moved to New York City to attend the School of Visual Arts and the Pratt Institute. His work soon appeared in numerous group exhibitions including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. In 1970, Ausby\u2019s first solo exhibition, composed of totemic paintings with colored planes, debuted at Cinque Gallery, founded a year prior by Romare Bearden, Ernest Crichlow, and Norman Lewis to celebrate the work of African American artists.<\/p>\n

In 1977, Ausby traveled to Nigeria to participate in the African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC). There, he fully recognized how his work was wholly consistent with traditional African artistic styles in textile patterning, design, and color usage. A year later, Ausby was awarded multiple CETA (the federal Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) artist grants that enabled him to produce major public works including InnerSpace\/OuterSpace<\/em>, a multimedia performance piece incorporating music, dance, poetry, and drama with Ausby\u2019s paintings and sculptures. The piece was performed at the Museum of Natural History in New York.<\/p>\n

In 2005, Ausby was commissioned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York to design the stained-glass mural, Space Odyssey<\/em>, at the Marcy Avenue subway station in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

For over three decades, until his 2011 death, painter Ellsworth Ausby shared his artistic talents, knowledge, and Afrofuturistic perspective with his countless students while teaching painting at the School of Visual Arts in New York.<\/p>\n

BAIA BITS are produced in part by the generous support of our Patreon members with a special shout out to Zadig & Voltaire.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"\"Stephanie Robinson, Esq.<\/strong> is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, a national media figure, author, former Chief Counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and former President and CEO of The Jamestown Project, a national think tank focusing on democracy. Ms. Robinson hosted her own national radio show, Roundtable with Stephanie Robinson<\/em>, a popular weekly 30-minute, talk-radio program focused on culture, politics, and relationships that aired on TSN. For over half a decade, Ms. Robinson was Political and Social Commentator for the Tom Joyner Morning Show<\/em> where she spoke to between 9 and 10 million people weekly, offering her perspective on the day\u2019s most pressing social and political issues.<\/p>\n

Robinson is co-author of Accountable: Making America as Good as Its Promise<\/u>, (Atria Books, 2009). She is a nationally recognized expert on issues relating to social policy, women, race, family, and electoral politics. She was featured as one of the 30 Young Leaders of the Future in Ebony Magazine and was profiled in the book As I Am: Young African American Women in a Critical Age<\/u>, by Julian Okwu. Robinson is a frequent speaker expressing her views in countless media outlets including the Associated Press, The Washington Post, C-Span, Fox News, NewsOne <\/em>and NPR<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Stephanie was a Member of President Clinton\u2019s first Mission to Africa regarding children orphaned by AIDS. Robinson, a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Maryland and the Harvard Law School, is a native of Steubenville, Ohio. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two sons.<\/p>\n

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