Ludlow E. Bailey/Asmar Fine Art P.O.Box 307363 St. Thomas, USVI 00803. 786 290-7359 ■ Carol Jazzar Contemporary Art 158 NW 91 Street Miami FL 33150 305.490.6906

December 4, 2011 @ UM College of Arts and Sciences, 1210 Stanford Drive, UM Campus

By Ludlow Bailey

My involvement in the visual arts is motivated by my love of Philosophy and the idea that we can gain more access to the mind of the Supreme Being’s creative process through the production and understanding of the visual arts.

The idea for this exhibition originated from my interest in exploring the metaphysical and philosophical principles that made Kemet (Egypt as it is now called) one of the most creative and outstanding civilizations of human history.

I have been studying the Metu Neter Volumes by Ra Un Nefer Amen and Egyptian Yoga by Dr. Muata Asby for the last three years and have been tremendously inspired by the spiritual impact of both the historical and philosophical content of these treatises.

As a curator, I wanted to use Kemetic metaphysics and art inspired by Kemet, to share some of these ideas with my international audience and particularly with young black youth in the United States, Britain and the Caribbean, who were overlooking the importance of their rich Kemetian cultural heritage. Two years ago, I started to dialogue with artists of African descent about creating works inspired by Kemetian History and Culture.  Some of the artists were already doing work that was influenced by their interest in Kemet.  Both Kerry Coppin and Everton Wright had already created a body of photography on Egypt. Asser-Saint-Val was very aware of Diop’s work and had produced a large number of pieces about Melanin. I was also introduced to Robin Holder primarily because of her “Karnak  Seris.” Both Kristie Stephenson and Nzingah are very knowledgeable about Kemetian culture and thus were very interested in working with the concept of the show.  Ms. Stephenson’s photographic interpretation of herself as Nefertiti is quite powerful and reflects a great of example of the artistic process of channeling. Nzingah’s work is also very successful in that context.

I wanted to share the spectacular, “Egyptian” photography of  African American artist,  Kerry Coppin in a context  that would  create an opportunity  to discuss the  significant contributions  of  our “African”  ancestors to the development of Western Civilization.  As a result, I designed a show called the “The Future of The Past,” that focused on images of the Sphinx, the pyramids and the 25^th dynasty.

During the summer of 2010, I had the good fortune to spend a significant amount of time in the Egyptian Collection at the Louvre in Paris and the British Museum in London.  I asked Everton Wright, a black British photographer, film maker and sculptor based in London to work on photographing some of the Egyptian collection, especially of the 25th Dynasty at the British Museum. His work lead to his creation of Black Head, Read Head, Taharqa and the Crossings.  The Crossings represents a modern interpretation of Kemetian anthropomorphic iconography.

While in London,  I curated a  show  called “ Atum Flow” that  came directly from my experience of applying some of the ideas  that I was gaining from the study of ancient Kemetian History, Art and Culture.

The word Atum derives from the Egyptian notion of God. (The Divine-The Supreme Being). The power of Atum Flow originates from the process of Being creating itself. Atum energy became one of my mantras and I started to engage some of the artist in the show to create work that was inspired specifically by Volume 4 of the Metu Neter Series and Egyptian Yoga.  Hence, the title for the show:  Atum Energy: Chanelling Kemetic Metaphysics.

What is Kemetic Metaphysics as defined by the context of this show?

Kemetic Metaphysics broadly defined includes the Tree of Life as demonstrated by the Paut Neter, the mystery of melanin, the philosophy of Metu Neter,  the story of Isis, Taharqa, Nefertiti and the historical research and writings about Kemet by Cheikh Anta Diop,  Ivan Van Sertima, Yosef ben-Jochannan, Asa Hillard, Dr Henrik Clarke, Runoko Rashidi,  Na’im Akbar, Martin Bernal, Dr Muata Ashby, Anthony Browder and Dr. Freeman.

Link: Atum Energy Exhibition

Related:

The panel symposium, under the leadership of Professor Edmund Abaka and Ludlow Bailey, will be held on Sunday December 5th, from noon to 2:30 p.m. at the College of Arts and Science Gallery, located at 1210 Stanford Drive, on the campus of the University of Miami.

Panelists: Congolese Artist, Bayunga | Paris Gallerist, Laurence Choko | Black British Artist, Everton Wright | South Florida Writer, Joy Ann Reid | New York Area Art Broker/Curator and Art Appraiser, Valerie Cooper | Haitian American Artist, Nzingah | Haitian American Photographer, Marc-Arthur Jean Louis | African-American Artist, Dinizulu Gene Tinnie | Curator, Ludlow Bailey

POTENTIAL DISCUSSION TOPICS:

Lunch will be served.

Kindly RSVP by Friday, December 3, 2010. Tel 305.302.9192, 786.290.7359 or ludlowebailey@gmail.com

“Atum Flow”

The University of Miami’s Department of Art and Art history, Africana Studies and Yele Haiti present …. “ Relentless Resilience: Harnessing the energy of contemporary African Diaspora Aesthetics”, an art exhibition celebrating Black History month with a unique focus on the artistic contribution of Haiti. The show, curated by international art curator, Ludlow Bailey, will run from February 1, 2010 to February 28, 2010 at the University’s College of Arts & Sciences/Wesley Gallery, 1210 Stanford Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146. (305) 284-2542.

The exhibition will include a series of lectures and will feature the works of African-American Artist, Ansel Butler; Jamaican Artist, Kristie Stephenson and Haitian-American Artists, Asser Saint-Val, Guy Syllien and Fred Thomas.

Ansel Butler is an Atlanta based artist who is well known for his provocative portraitures on wood. Ansel holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Southern University A&M, Baton Rouge, LA as well as a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Computer Science from Southern University A&M, Baton Rouge, LA, 1990.

Asser Saint-Val is a graduate of the New World School of The Arts and holds a BFA from the University of Florida. Mr. Saint-Val was the 2006 winner of the prestigious, “South Florida Consortium Award.”

Guy Syllien has been featured on “NBC’s Good Morning America. Mr. Syllien is also a graduate of the New World School of The Arts. He is a multimedia artist and works with found objects and prefers to use mostly acrylics in his well crafted paintings.

Fred Thomas has been painting since his elementary school in Haiti. He attended the Centre d ‘Art and the Centre de Ceramique in Port au Prince. He also holds a BA in Philosophy and Religion from Union University and a Masters Degree in Psychology. He is currently an artist in residence at Art South of Homestead.

Kristie Stephensen was born in Kingston, Jamaica and studied graphic design at the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts. She holds a Masters Degree in Architecture from RISD (The Rhode Island School of Design.) Her work is highly informed by multicultural spiritual ideas of myth and legend.

The College of Arts & Sciences/Wesley Gallery is free and open to the public. A special opening reception will be held on Feb 19, 2010 from 6:30pm-9pm.

The following lectures, intended to contextualize the exhibition will be presented in conjunction with the exhibition:

1. African Diaspora Art and Heritage as Catalysts for the Reconstruction of Haiti

2. African Diaspora Art and Healing

Related Links:

• University of Miami’s Department of Art and Art history, Africana Studies
• Haiti: Ghana Responds

<Back