{"id":6423,"date":"2020-01-22T17:33:12","date_gmt":"2020-01-22T17:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/?p=6423"},"modified":"2020-03-03T10:42:01","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T10:42:01","slug":"a-voice-for-the-voiceless-the-artwork-of-imo-nse-imeh-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earthexhibitions.org\/media-archive\/?p=6423","title":{"rendered":"A Voice for the Voiceless: The Artwork of\u00a0 Imo Nse Imeh"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Voice for the Voiceless: The Artwork of\u00a0 Imo Nse Imeh<\/b><\/h3>\n
By Gina Beavers<\/span><\/pre>\n
Dr. Imo Nse Imeh is a study in contradictions; he is warm and affable but clearly operates from a place of power and purpose.\u00a0 His art studio, in a converted mill in Holyoke, MA, is a study in dedication to craft but resists the stuffiness of an academic.\u00a0 His manner is gentle but his words are hard and honest– after all, he operates from a place of purpose.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Like the artist, Imeh\u2019s work also embodies contradictions.\u00a0 His exquisitely rendered black male and female figures are made of disarmingly lithe and modulating lines.\u00a0 Subject and surrounding are woven together in a lyrical dance. Upon closer look, however, there is a noticeably apprehensive relationship between the two.\u00a0 In some cases, they reveal the dreadful physical and psychological cost of being black in this world.<\/span><\/p>\n
\"\"
Forgotten Girl (2015, Ten Little Nigger<\/del> Girls series)<\/p><\/div>\n
Imeh\u2019s oeuvre is documenting the social injustices waged against blacks throughout the African diaspora — the harm done to our black bodies and minds.\u00a0 But he deftly and effectively juxtaposes beauty and trauma, helplessness and strength, silence and fury to breathe a unique and compelling life into his works.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cMy responsibility as an artist is to offer a voice to the voiceless, to the best of my abilities.\u00a0 It is what I\u2019ve been called to do,\u201d he states. And Imeh\u2019s \u201ccall\u201d has clearly shaped the trajectory of his work.\u00a0 With each project the voice of the voiceless has become clearer and more focused.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Imeh is\u00a0a Nigerian-American scholar of African Diaspora visual culture and aesthetics.\u00a0 He is an alumnus of Columbia University and earned his Ph.D in Art History from the Yale University Graduate School.\u00a0 He is currently an Associate Professor of Art and Art History at Westfield State University in Westfield, MA.<\/span><\/p>\n
Imeh is also the author of\u00a0 <\/span>Daughters of Seclusion: the Revelation of the Ibibio \u2018Fattened Bride\u2019 as the Icon of Beauty and Power<\/span><\/i>,\u00a0 a practice he first heard about from his grandmother.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up in the Bronx, in a rich and thriving community of people from Ibibioland, the home of both of my parents,\u201d Imeh states, and he credits his Nigerian culture with informing his view of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n
The marriage of art and history is the underpinning of Imeh\u2019s projects.\u00a0 Through <\/span>Ten Little <\/span><\/i>Nigger<\/span><\/i><\/del> Girls<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Chibok Girls<\/span><\/i>, Imeh unpacks the lives of black girls interrupted.\u00a0 He does the same for black boys through his project <\/span>Seventeen Years Boy<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\"\"
Dryad Study (2016, Chibok Girl series)<\/p><\/div>\n
His work is the product of a keen investigative mind bent on illuminating the darkest corners of history.\u00a0 As the guardian of the forgotten, Imeh sheds a beautifully unapologetic light on his journey to speak for his charges. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>And the journey is a breathtakingly empathetic excursion into the sorrows and triumphs of blacks in the African Diaspora<\/span><\/p>\n
Ten Little <\/span><\/i>Nigger<\/span><\/i><\/del> Girls<\/span><\/i> is a stunning and heartbreaking series of drawings that embody the pain and anguish of black girls who are marginalized and victimized often with impunity..<\/span><\/p>\n
\"\"
Selfie Girl (2015, Ten Little Nigger<\/del> Girls series<\/p><\/div>\n
Imeh says this collection was inspired by the 1907 Nora Case children\u2019s story, <\/span>Ten Little Nigger<\/del> Girls<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 Most are more familiar with <\/span>Ten Little Indians<\/span><\/i>, a derivative tale that has become more palatable.\u00a0 In either story ten children are eliminated one by one \u2014 sometimes quite violently.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cMy art features contemporary black girls in various states of danger, in the present-day, in the spirit of education and conversation, to examine the language, history, and realities of race in America, and the unsettling ways in which black children specifically have been imagined in the American social economy over the past century,\u201d Imeh states.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0Imeh reimagines Case\u2019s story and contemporizes it with works entitled \u201cPuppet Girl,\u201d \u201cSyringe Girl,\u201d and \u201cGirl on Fire.\u201d\u00a0 By substituting contemporary girls in this web of historical violence, Imeh forces viewers to contemplate the on-going cost of inflicted violence. Violence that now often results in self-destructive behaviors including drug use, abuse, and suicide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Imeh\u2019s project, <\/span>Chibok Girls,<\/span><\/i> a tribute to the 276 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria that sparked the #Bringbackourgirls campaign in 2014, captures the very essence of loss and endurance. \u00a0 Imeh describes the intent of this project:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cThe series, collectively, seeks to tell the story of these girls, but also the larger narrative of black girl subjectivity. Most importantly, this series shows the amazing beauty and resilience that these and so many other young women around the world demonstrate in times of great pain and challenge.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The most ambitious of Imeh\u2019s projects, <\/span>Seventeen Years Boy, <\/span><\/i>was inspired by the death of Trayvon Martin.\u00a0 Spurred by the senselessness of his death and indignities Martin suffered afterwards, Imeh says Martin\u2019s murder \u201cbroke me, but woke me.\u201d\u00a0 Imeh dedicated a year to suss meaning to and purpose from Martin\u2019s tragic death, and ultimately those of young black men throughout history who were killed without consequence, highlighting the issue of the subjugation of Black boys in America.<\/span><\/p>\n
In 2018, Imeh staged a \u201cunique time-based live painting and multimedia performance that revisited the controversial death of Trayvon Martin. Over a 17-hour period … Imeh painted a large-scale portrait of the teenager, which was then ceremoniously destroyed in the final hour of the performance\u2014an allusion to Trayvon Martin\u2019s 17 years of life, and untimely death. \u201c<\/span><\/p>\n
The project culminated in a showing of 17 new works of art, each one created with pieces of the original, destroyed canvas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cTo me,\u201d Imeh explaines\u00a0 \u201cthis new body of work symboliz[ed] the challenging, yet beautiful, journey down the path of healing, to transform the horror of unspeakable tragedy into a renewed sense of life and celebration.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\"ImageGina Beavers<\/strong> is a freelance writer and the former Editor of Arts and Culture at <\/span><\/span>The Valley Advocate<\/span><\/i> newspaper in Northampton, Massachusetts.\u00a0 She also is a painter, a graphic designer, and a communications and marketing professional.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Beavers received her M.A. and B.A. in American History at the Universities of Massachusetts Amherst and Pittsburgh respectively. She currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA. and is serving as the Interim Organizational Director of the Black Caucus American Library Association.<\/span><\/p>\n
\"\"
is proud to sponsor this content on Black Art In America<\/p><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Browse and shop for fine art from our growing network of artists, collectors, estates, galleries — specializing in works by Black American artists with great values on premier art.<\/p><\/div>\n
START COLLECTING ART<\/span><\/h1>\n
Sign up for our\u00a0free\u00a0email course<\/u><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>on how to begin your collection.<\/p>\n
Would you buy stock in BAIA if you could? Well we invite you to join us in becoming a monthly supporter, starting at just $3 a month\u00a0YOU<\/b>\u00a0become a stakeholder and begin to help us transform lives through art. We are growing the BAIA team and will use your contributions to hire more team members for the purpose of creating more educational and marketing resources for schools and universities about african american artists both past and present.
\n\u200b
\nReview our list of rewards for becoming a BAIA\u00a0Patreon<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\/ patron supporter. Your monthly contribution has lasting benefits. \u2014 \u201cWhat will your legacy be\u201d \u2013 Dr. Margaret Burroughs<\/p>\n
Thank you new and recurring monthly Patrons<\/h1>\n
Deloris and Eddie Young, Esther Silver-Parker<\/strong>, Eugene Foney,\u00a0National Black Arts Festival,<\/strong>\u00a0Matthew Putman, Frank Frazier, Dee Greer,\u00a0March on Washington Film Festival<\/strong>, Danny Jenkins, Deborah L. McCullough<\/strong>, Ashlee Jacob, Tricia Konan, Michael Brinson, Rosie Gordon-Wallace, Jeanette D Adeshote,\u00a0 Ja-Na Bordes, Rev. Anita Marshall, Tricia Konan, Robin King, Kerri L. Forrest, Nan, Thomas E. Rodgers, D. Lacy, Jeffery Washington, Brenda Larnell, Helen Oyekan, Jeffery Washington, Letashia Mosbey, Marian Darlington, Roslyn Valentine, Vyonne Diva, Ednarina Blake, Devera Redmond, Carla West, Beatrice, Longshore, Abimbola Thompson, Barbara Johnson, Beverly C Smith, Deborah R. Moore, Dr. Skyller Walkes, Ednarina BLAKE, Garr Parks, Gerald Carrington, Jae M, James B Wingo, Jocelyne Lamour, Kevin Smokler, Marion Zweig, Mary Ali-Masai, Michael J. Todd, Nan, Reg Pugh, Shannon DeVaney, Thomas E. Rogers, Tonya Pendleton, D Lacy, Noreen Winningham, Mason Archie, Jill Scott, Cari Jackson Lewis, Patrick Stewart, Rachel Corbray, Cecilia Winters-Morris, Christ Van Loan Sr., Romaine Roberts, Michael Jacobs, K.L. Martin, Gale Ross, Manuelita Brown, Annette, Jamal Love, Glenn Isaac Sr, M. Rasheed, Angela Williams, Dana Todd Pope, Terese L Hawkins, Mark Everett Sanders, Kirby L. Coleman, Harold Moore, Fredric Isler, Queen Brooks, Mary Ann Griswold<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>
We Appreciate Your Support<\/p><\/div>\n
 <\/p>\n
Share this:<\/h3>