Learn how to use portraiture to explore identity, emotion, or even social issues.
Portrait Photography: Framing Identity
All posts tagged: Melissa Alcena
Blank Canvas with Melissa Alcena, Amanda Coulson, and Jodi Minnis
On today’s Blank Canvas, the show on which we discuss visual culture and creative community, your host Katrina Cartwright, iis joined by members of the TERN team–Amanda Coulson, Founding Director and Jodi Minnis, Gallery Manager—and artist Melissa Alcena, who is a Bahamian documentarian and fine art photographer.
Blank Canvas with Melissa Alcena, Tamika Galanis and Rodell Warner
On “NAGB’s Blank Canvas,” your host Amanda Coulson speaks with Melissa Alcena, Tamika Galanis and Rodell Warner, all of whom are currently on show in Nassau at various locations, as well as having other projects globally.
Returning the Gaze: Melissa Alcena in NE9
By Kevanté A. C. Cash. Melissa Alcena’s work is not for the faint of heart. It is not for those of whom dismiss the work of introspection. It causes a discomfort in self; challenges interior and personal spaces and the world around it, especially if that self exists as a Black body traversing through a “post-colonial” society. As one of the 38 artists supported by the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) in the Ninth National Exhibition (NE9), “The Fruit and The Seed” Alcena’s work delivered nothing short of expectation. Her interpretation of the exhibition’s thematic manifested as works seeking to return the gaze and dispel the notion of “othering”, because truly, what is a “them”? What is a “they” if we are all experiencing the same aftermath outside of British colonial ruling? “Is the island not 21 x 7 miles even though the archipelago far flung? Why do we act as if we are so far apart?” With her biting and intimate suite of images, Alcena poses these questions.
Creative Youth: Reevaluating Our Values and the Work of Young People
By Dr Ian Bethell Bennett. The Bahamas has quickly become a country with multilayered and multifaceted youth conflicts. Over the last ten years, these issues have taken the fore and removed the focus from real and positive change. Violence, youth disengagement and youth disaffection can be addressed through creative expression and creative practice. However, in a school system that argues for a focus on the STEM and not STEAM, but without any real engagement–where art and performance are seen as outside and unwanted stepchildren–it is significant that some young Bahamians are excelling in their work and their creative expression.
Some (Re)assembly Required: Melissa Alcena’s Tender Look at Black Masculinity
Melissa Alcena’s solo show currently on view in the Project Space through December 3rd, “Some (Re)assembly Required,” speaks to this puzzle-piecing together and rebuilding and reclaiming of the chunks of softness that has been chipped away from Black men for so long.
Blank Canvas with Melissa Alcena
On tonight’s “Blank Canvas,” we re-visit with young Bahamian photographer, Melissa Alcena. Alcena has already made a strong impression on the local art scene, with her involvement in the recent exhibition at the D’Aguilar Art Foundation in the group show “Diversions,” which is on view until November 7th. She now embarks on, “Some (re)assembly required,” her first solo exhibition in The Bahamas at the NAGB’s Project Space, where visitors can get a deeper understanding of her photography practise.
Blank Canvas with Melissa Alcena, Sofia Whitehead, and Tessa Whitehead
Joining host, Amanda Coulson, on The Blank Canvas tonight are Tessa Whitehead, curator of the upcoming show at The D’Aguilar Art Foundation, entitled “Diversions” and participating artists Melissa Alcena and Sofia Whitehead.