THE NASCENCE OF CHOREOMANIA, HENRY TAYLOR, and finding myself
I want to start this piece by recognizing several artists - Nina Chanel, Barkley Hendricks, Amy Sherald, Otis Quaicoe, Matthew Eguavoen, Gerald Lovell, Amoako Boafo - whose work allowed me to come back into the art world feeling inspired. When I think of the last few months living in New York City, I am thankful for being able to return to my art and reprioritizing it in my life. My job wasn’t moving my life forward outside of seeing how much AppleCare I could attach to an AirPods sale, and by the end of the summer I knew my time was coming up and I might as well go out with a bang and thus I started painting again. Thus CHOREOMANIA was born - as a celebration of dance, and a thank you letter and goodbye to New York.
CHOREOALPHA - SKYE BLUE by Cousin Tito
There are six paintings, from a collection I’ve titled “CHOREOALPHA”, with three representing my Harlem era (where I started painting them) and the other three representing my Brooklyn era (where I started painting them). Shortly after I moved to Crown Heights in October, a friend treated me to a date to the Whitney Museum for a pay-what-you-want night. It was my first time going to the Whitney, something I’d been putting off for a while for reasons I still don’t understand.
Seeing Henry Taylor’s work had woken something in me. The simplistic expressiveness of it all. The colors. The vibrancy. The richness and Blackness of it all. It really put a battery in my back with the type of art I wanted to make. His exhibition made me remember that I longed to see Black figurative art in person. In making the Harlem CHOREOALPHA paintings, I’d watched YouTube videos of artists talks during mornings and nights when I could. Back then, I was in transition, apartment hunting with my fellow bird Daniel, so I was sleeping on the couch in his living room and making art. It felt very 90s film where all I needed was a love interest who wanted me to join the corporate world and leave art, and struggle, behind.
But then I saw Henry Taylor’s exhibit. I event went three times - twice before CHOREOMANIA and once after. The second time I went by myself. The third I went with Chief Bird Daniel during a brief trip he took up to the city. I wanted to see the colors. I wanted to see the details - or lack thereof. I wanted to see if every piece of the canvas was painted on, or were there spots on the paintings that were missed. I wanted to see how colors blended together if they even did so.
With the Brooklyn era CHOREOALPHA paintings, I considered adding more detailed backgrounds. Each of the images were based off an image of someone dancing, and there was room for additional details. One of the last ones, CHOREOALPHA YELLUR, I did add some details of shoes and the cuts in the concrete.
When I think of the paintings I remember, I think of the Tyler the Creator luggage, the Philando Castile in the car, the big one with the butch looking woman cooking on the grill, the one with the man’s ass crack out, the one with the hat that says HUSTLE FORWARD, the one with the See’s Candies, and the one with the East African dentist. These paintings I remember so vividly and though a title escapes me for all of them, I feel somewhat better for having seen them in person now even months later. I imagine one day I’ll have the money to buy 60in canvases and truly bring my visions to life as I return to painting. In the meantime, I look forward to being a student again, soaking up the art world one phenomenal Black artist at a time.