Abstracproseality: Visual Notations from Dark to Light
seangarrison
MAAHMG Artist-In-Residence
January 4 to June 30, 2022
seangarrison’s exhibit Abstracproseality: Visual Notations from Dark to Light is an exhibit of acrylic paintings and mixed media that documents various aspects of the African American existence and experience in america. The paintings and prose created by seangarrison reflect pain, anger, joy and love with the intent to both agitate and allow us to breathe from the “heaviness” of it all. There are two ways to view the exhibit to get a full meaning. The “view” is what you initially see and have a visceral reaction to. The “post-view” occurs after you decode the iconography embedded prose within the artwork. The intent is to encourage people to listen to the art by bringing the viewer deeper into the works beyond a visual understanding, but to “aggravate to motivate” people to action or to simply allow their soul to smile in agreement.
The MAAHMG Artist-In-Residence program is designed to give support, opportunity and exposure to Black artists working in Minnesota to create new works exploring Black history, art and culture. Funding for the program was provided by a grant from the Transformative Black-Led Movement Fund by Nexus Community Partners and Black Visions Collective, a donation from the Eulysses and Janet Aiken Fund (Ta-coumba Aiken), and a donation from Seitu Jones.
About The Artist
seangarrison (Sean G. Phillips) is a native Detroiter currently residing in Minneapolis. He is a writer and abstract painter in which both disciplines cross-influence the other. The influences range from Nikki Giovanni, Amiri Baraka, Pablo Neruda and Yusef Komuyakaa to Frank Bowling, Jackson Pollack, Willem de kooning and Ed Clark. A self-taught artist, seangarrison feels that all artists should have a foundational understanding of art but art is conceived in the soul of the artist which precludes an academic knowledge. seangarrison enjoys visual art in its entirety; but, abstract art’s ability to elicit different responses to “what it is” intrigues him as no answer, in his opinion, is essentially wrong. He has shown his work at the Basilica of St, Mary’s (Minneapolis), Hennepin Gallery (Minneapolis), Gamut Gallery (Minneapolis), Homewood Studios, and seangarrison studio. In 2012 he curated the art show “Fade 2 Blaq” which featured 16 local artists of color. seangarrison also has a publishing company Chocolate River Press. He is currently planning the solo exhibit “an honest america: in four acts” to be held in 2021. He is also currently an Artist in Residence at the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery where he is working on the body of work “AbstractProseality” to be shown in 2022.
