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

The University of Miami’s Africana Studies Department has a number of events planned in commemoration of Black History Month. Calendar below:

1. February 11, 2011: 6:30pm-10:00pm
Art Opening, “Atum Energy” at the Gallery of Art and Sciences

2. February 12, 2011: 11:00am-1:00pm
Print Making Workshop, by New York Artist, Robin Holder, for the children of Overtown Youth Center

3. February 12, 2011: 6:00pm-8:00pm
Reception for Artist, Robin Holder
Location: TBA

4. February 13,2011: 2:00pm-5:00pm
Lecture/Panel Discussion on “The role of Kemetic Philosophy in the development of Contemporary Africana Culture
Lecture: Ludlow Bailey/Dr. George Love
Panelists: Robin Holder, Kristie Stephenson, Ludlow Bailey, Nzingah and Dr. George Love

5. February 14,2011 10:00am-3:00pm
Visioneering and Self Realization Workshop with Phyl’s Academy Middle School in the Gallery
Moderated by Robin Holder and Ludlow Bailey

6. February 16, 2011: 6:00pm
Africana Studies Department: Art Basel working group on the black community and Art Basel

7. February 17, 2011 :1pm-4pm.
Gallery Tour and Visioneering Workshop with Troy Academy.

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

Milly Cardoso
UM Department of Art and Art History (305) 284-2543
m.cardoso1@miami.edu

Elizabeth Amore
UM Media Relations
(305) 284-6266
eamore@miami.edu

UM DEPARTMENT OF ART & ART HISTORY AND AFRICANA STUDIES PRESENT

“ATUM ENERGY: CHANNELING KEMETIC METAPHYSICS”

ART EXHIBITION CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORY MONTH

CORAL GABLES, FL (January 19, 2011) – The University of Miami’s Department of Art & Art Historyand Africana Studies present “Atum Energy: Channeling Kemetic Metaphysics,” an art exhibition celebrating Black History Month.

The show, curated by international art curator Ludlow Bailey, will run from February 1, 2011-February 28, 2011 at the University’s College of Arts and Sciences, 1210 Stanford Drive in Coral Gables. The exhibition is free and open to the public. A special opening reception will be held on Friday, February 11, 2011 from 6:30 pm-9:00 pm.

The exhibition will include a series of lectures and will feature the works of African-American artists, Robin Holder and Kerry Stuart Coppin, Haitian-American artists, Asser Saint-Val and Nzingah, Jamaican-American artist, Kristie Stephenson and Black British artist, Everton Wright.

Ludlow Bailey has curated shows in Europe, The Caribbean and the United States. He has lived in Egypt and has travelled extensively in Africa. He is a lifelong student of Egyptology & Metaphysics. He holds degrees from both Brown and Columbia Universities.  He currently resides on the island of St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands.

The following lecture to contextualize the exhibition will be held at 3:00 p.m. on February 13, 2011. It is titled “The role of Egyptology and Kemetic Philosophy in general in the development of Contemporary Africana Culture.”

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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”