"Poor People's Campaign" Portfolio by Najee Dorsey
10 Prints all 40 inches (W) photomontage & digital pigment print on premium Hahnemuhle archival paper, limited edition of 10 --unframed
(L TO R images across)
1. Ice Cream Melting
2. Stars and Stripes
3. City Park
4. Southern Futurist
5. Those Empower...Say, Oh Poor Dog
6. Playground For the Poor
7. Summer
8. Tent City
9. The Gospel Spoke of A Redeemer
10. Conjure Making That Long Arduous Access to Something Universal
Black Visual Culture, Environmental injustice and Representation of American South in Afrofuturism
Poor People's Campaign: Where does inspiration come from? Well inspiration came recently after being invited to a salon talk with the Founder of the Southerly thanks to Alan Rothschild of the Do Good Fund. The Southerly is an independent non-profit media organization that covers the intersection of ecology, justice, and culture in the American South. The invitation lead me down a rabbit hole of research prior to the talk, binging on information from environmental justice, climate change and social justice via Dr. Robert Bullard and Van Jones to Afrofuturism and Octavia Butler. Yes, as a lifetime Southerner, with Southern Visual Culture and Folklore being a focal point of my works I wanted to see if Afrofuturism takes into account poor and marginalized communities in the South. I now join in the conversation visually. I'm 10 plus pieces into this series and will continue to expand this body of work. Stay tuned, more to come ...
Born in Arkansas, on January 26, 1973 and now residing in Atlanta, Georgia, Najee Dorsey; visual artist, gallerist, producer, CEO and founder of Black Art In America is known for embracing Southern roots in his works and relaying on canvas stories untold but not forgotten of the African American life. His artworks have been featured in exhibitions at the Arnika Dawkins Gallery, The Columbus Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, David C. Driskell Center, the Charles H. Wright Museum; Syracuse University; the African American Museum in Dallas, TX; Houston Museum of African American Culture, the Marietta Museum of Art, FL; Clark Atlanta University Museum, the University of Arkansas Library and Liberty Bank Trust Company in New Orleans, LA. Dorsey has been featured in articles for the ARTnews and the Forbes, “PRIZM Awakens Mighty Overdue Dialogue at Miami Art Week Fair Dedicated to African and African Diaspora Artist” written by Natasha Gural.
Najee Dorsey established Black Art In America (BAIA™) in 2010 as an online media platform for African American artists, collectors, art enthusiasts, and arts professionals. Black Art In America (BAIA™) is the leading online portal and network focused on African-American Art with visitors from over 100 countries visiting the site each month and about half a million visitors to their social media platforms. BAIA's mission is to document, preserve and promote the contributions of the African American arts community.
