Vivrant Thang Virtual Exhibition

Curated by Ciara Elle Bryant

Participating artists: Jeremy Biggers/ Ari Brielle/ Ciara Elle Bryant / Xxavier Edward Carter/ LaShonda Cooks / Danielle Demetria East / Jer'Lisa Devezin / Elizabeth Hill / David-Jeremiah / Jas Mardis / Jamila Mendez / Desireé Vaniecia

August 15- September 13, 2020

NOTE: new exhibition close date! The artists have agreed to extend the exhibition by one week!

View the exhibition in person BY APPOINTMENT ONLY, on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12-5 pm. Click the “Schedule an appointment” page at the top navigation bar and fill out the form to request an appointment.

100% of artwork sales go directly to the artists in this exhibition.

Vivrant Thang Exhibition Statement

500X Gallery hosts the first physical show in their new gallery space, Vivrant Thang. Curated by Ciara Elle Bryant, Vivrant Thang features the work of 12 Black artists including Jeremy Biggers, Ari Brielle, Ciara Elle Bryant, Xxavier Edward Carter, LaShonda Cooks, Danielle Demetria East, Jer’Lisa Devezin, Elizabeth Hill, David-Jeremiah, Jas Mardis, Jamila Mendez, and Desireé Vaniecia. Vivrant Thang is an ode to Q-Tip as well as the sample from the original Love Unlimited Orchestra song I Wanna Stay.

Q-Tip defines Vivrant Thang as a take on the French word ‘vivant’ which means living. He is quoted as saying “So it’s… like a feeling, just like a breath of fresh air, kind of, like, spunky. Poppin’, zest, and all that there.” With that Ciara looked at what she felt the definition of living was as a Black woman and this is what she came up with:

Living is experiencing, persisting, breathing, surviving, flourishing, prospering, and providing nourishment.

Vivrant Thang is and will be a safe space. It serves as an alliance as well a reflection for the artist to create for themselves. It will give you a moment to just explore what your definition of living is and how it can be reflected in your work. Vivrant Thang gives a chance for the artist to be surrounded by kindred souls while providing a space where the viewer can see multiple facets of Black artwork. Viewing a collection of works by Black artists can change how Black artwork is viewed. This gives a new breadth to how Black artists can exist in the “Art World.”

As a member-run gallery, 500X has chosen to build a community that supports Black artists as well other artists of color. Black art should be shown everywhere, not in designated spaces or areas or only during specific times.

There will be a virtual reception on August 15th from 7-8:30 pm. Vivrant Thang will be on view from August 15 through September 6, 2020 at 500X Gallery. The new address is 516 Fabrication Street, Dallas, TX 75212. The exhibition will be available to view on www.500x.org and on Saturday and Sundays, by appointment only.

Vivrant Thang Panel Discussion

Jeremy Biggers

Artist Statement: Jeremy Biggers’ work is shaped by his experiences, experiences that inform his view of the world. The visual language developed within his work deals with identity as it pertains to “code-switching” and the feeling of being multiple people simultaneously. His signature “hyper-red” featured in a number of the works reminds the viewer as well as himself to be aspirational, never allowing oneself to become “satisfied” or “complacent”. By being as honest and authentic as he can to his subjects, and himself, Biggers hopes that his work resonates and establishes trust with the viewer, allowing sincere conversation to begin and perhaps inspiring the viewer to discover something about themselves.

Bio: Jeremy Biggers. Award-Winning Creator. Problem Solver. Fine-Artist. Designer. Photographer. Film Maker. Based in Dallas, Texas. Dubbed "Dallas' Hardest Working Multi-Hyphenate" by D Magazine, from drawing to painting to graphic design to photography to film making, Jeremy Biggers has been involved with image making his entire life.  He attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts where he primarily focused on expression through graphite and charcoal drawing. During his college years he cultivated his love for painting and photography, and they’ve since cemented themselves into his everyday life.  As with most artists, his work is shaped by experiences that inform his view of the world. His goal with each piece is to inspire conversation. His fine-art work mixes realism with a design aesthetic. His partnerships have included Nike, Adidas, McDonalds, Paramount Pictures, Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Mavericks, Virgin Hotels, Cheetos, Bud Light, Cadillac, Sprint, and Vice.

Instagram: @stemandthorn

Website: https://jeremybiggers.com/

Ari Brielle

Artist Statement: My work centers around Black femme identity, and examines how the politicization of our bodies affects our experience. I'm interested in how oppressive images of Black women in culture--the jezebel, the mammy, the strong black woman, etc.--contribute to unsafe work and social environments, appropriation and dehumanization, lack of proper treatment in doctor's offices, and even murders at the hands of the police. 

Going to vigils over the years and seeing flowers, fruit, photos, and candles set up as altars to honor those whose lives had been taken, I thought about how as Black woman, I am an altar. I, and any other Black femmes, could have our lives taken at any given moment--at home, in the car, at church, on a walk. At any given moment there could be a hashtag, a vigil, a memorial, an altar set up for us. Given the flippant treatment of our bodies when we're living, and our lives when we're dead, I'm interested in playing with the absurdity of two truths--the degradation and hypersexualization of the Black femme body, and how others feel they can manipulate or harm those bodies.

Bio: Ari Brielle is an emerging visual artist based in Dallas, Texas. She completed her BA at the University of North Texas in 2016, where she cultivated her studio practice and studied Interdisciplinary Art and Design.

Instagram: @aribrielle_

Website: https://aribrielle.com/

Ciara Elle Bryant

Artist Statement: Ciara Elle Bryant’s work addresses areas of social injustice specifically those which evoke emotions drawn from day to day life experiences as a woman of color. Ciara uses a variety of materials and processes to emphasize the relationship between diversity and representation. Each individual work can both exist on its own and as a part of an interdependent unit.

Bio: Ciara Elle Bryant is a multidisciplinary creative residing in Dallas, Texas. She uses mixed media techniques to discuss the identity of Black culture and how it exists in the new millennium. Bryant also facilitates multiple artist workshops during the year for at-risk youth and practicing artists to demonstrate the constant need for ever-evolving immersion in the arts while creating. Born in Miami Florida, Bryant received her bachelor’s degree in Arts and Performance with a concentration in Visual Arts from The University of Texas at Dallas in 2016 and her MFA from Southern Methodist University in 2020.

Instagram: @ciaraellebryant

Website: https://www.ciaraellebryant.com/

Xxavier Edward Carter

Xxavier Edward Carter, Black Summer, 2020, Performance Installation, Blood, Cloth, Plastic, Metal, Mirror, Wood, Paper

Artist Statement: The most recent in the series, “Blood Works”, exploring protection, sacrifice, and personal agency. Black Summer meditates on blood sacrifice at the collapse of civilization. The description of the taking of Black lives as a necessary evil attached to the flourishing of the United States has been around since its inception and has been the substance spread by capitalism to prop up the facade of the colonial dream.

This performance uses medical devices for a blood draw of 600ml of blood over roughly 20 minutes. In this context, Black Summer, meditates on Black lives experimented on for medical research. Forced sterilizations and dissection of Black Women for the OB/GYN field, infection of Black Men with diseases by the United States Government under the guise of free healthcare in Tuskegee, and the want during the Coronavirus Pandemic to test possible vaccines in Africa amongst Black communities, are just some of the atrocities carried out for the greater good.

Breonna Taylor was a first responder in her home after a day of dealing with a community in fear of the Coronavirus. She was shot by officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove. For 20 minutes she lay bleeding to death in her own home. I think about how easy it would have been to save her life had it not been for the sacrifice demanded for a redevelopment program in her neighborhood. The arrest of Taylor’s partner, Kenneth Walker, for attempted murder after firing in defense of his and Taylor’s lives, while the three officers remain uncharged exposes the kind of regard held for Black Lives by the United States legal system.  

Bio: Xxavier Edward Carter (born 1986, Dallas, Texas) is a transdisciplinary artist with a BFA from Stanford University and an MFA from Southern Methodist University. His work is often presented as videos, publications, installations, and performances to encompass multi-sensorial and layered circumstances encountered by the artist. Personal interactions, media bombardment, observed and lived experiences, and material excess/waste influence his work towards a complex revolutionary promise. These ecologically centered works are often heavily linked to the material history of currency in how it relates to the histories of marginalized people. Carter is of Black and Native American heritage and views his work as a continuation of the survival and storytelling practices of these cultures. More broadly, he is interested in how these practices have analogies across cultures worldwide. Stories of origins, the afterlife, superhuman beings, and of love and tragedy are the most compelling for him. Carter creates work dealing with what these stories mean in an often violent and oppressive context. His work bravely forges new ground by creating from the links of a chain that is often marked by the destructive history of humanity.

Instagram: @xxavierismyname

Website: http://xxavierismyname.com/

LaShonda Cooks

Artist Statement: My first two pieces, "Free Skate" and "Jump", both acrylic on 12 " canvas, capture moments of complete freedom and peace experienced during this bizarre pandemic season. Away from the white or male gaze, through actions for our benefit alone, these portraits show a glimpse into a world of Black joy we create for and by themselves. COVID and its isolation from our typical circles and circumstances have forced us to be creative and intentional about protecting our spaces, both physical and spiritual. The third piece is “Hurdles”, 11.5 x 48 in acrylic on canvas. I created it back in 2017, when my mom was sick, as a reminder of the power of Black women to overcome obstacles with flair, style and self intact. These women each raced in the 100 meter hurdles in the Olympics on the largest stage of the world and won.  

Bio: LaShonda Cooks is a Dallas-based artist and writer who loves exploring cultural norms, identity and beauty through words and images. She received her BS from Babson College in 2010.   While there Cooks, the daughter of an art teacher, balanced her business education with her life-long interest in the arts, by working in the college’s ceramic studio and exploring color in glaze and underglaze tiles. Those color studies birthed her signature pointillist painting style that features short fluid strokes and multiple layers of colors. Painting people is her specialty. She regularly captures the features and essence of clients for commission pieces of all sizes and depicts her favorite icons and influencers on canvas as well. Her work has been featured at Babson College Hollister Gallery, Babson College Magazine, Dallas Post-Tribune, DART Martin Luther King Bus Stop, All Access Art Show, Miami Salute Life Show and MUCE Campus Miami. Her work can be found at www.shondasart.com or on her ten-year-old blog, The Re-Education of LaShonda."

Instagram: @shondasart

Website: www.shondasart.com

Danielle Demetria East

Artist Statement: As a Black woman, I see my work as a form of protest in the age of Black Girl Magic. I use my work to show my objection and disagreement with the oppression and inter-generational trauma placed on Black femininity. In my work, I explore the complexity of being a Black girl, southern Blackness, and healing. In my mixed-media installations and poetry, I used culturally classed materials and Black Vernacular English because this is a media and form of communication in which I do. 

Piece specific statement: This work explores the conditions of Black femininity and magicality in
relation to happiness. It reflects on how Black femme happiness and joy can not be controlled by
misogynoir.

Bio: Danielle Demetria East is a multi-disciplinary artist. East works creates mixed-media installations and poetry and is currently one of the artists-in-residence at the Charles Adams Studio Project in Lubbock, TX. East is also the founder and director of East Lubbock Art House. She is originally from La Grange, TX and is also a recent graduate from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.  

Instagram: @danielledemetria

Website: https://www.danielledemetriaart.com/

Jer'Lisa Devezin

Artist Statement: Through mass media, images, and science, the black female body has been oppressed and dehumanized due to white ideas and social constructs surrounding black womanhood. My work investigates the spectrum of black womanhood and addresses the stereotypes projected onto us; furthermore, exploring the intersection of black womanhood and the effects of social constructions that uphold white ideas of gender and patriarchy.

Much of my influence comes from the aesthetics of African and Haitian art, black culture, and New Orleans bounce music. I create mixed-media sculptures using ceramics, metal, and fibers to articulate ideas of strength, resilience, beauty, and power. Experimental investigations through video and performance explore the nuances of physical labor and black womanhood. The work inserts notions that reject the constructions of white ideas of womanhood onto black women.

Bio: Jer’Lisa J. Devezin is a mixed media sculptor born and raised in New Orleans, LA. She received her BA from Dillard University in 2011 and earned her MFA from Southern Methodist University in 2019. Jer’Lisa creates mixed media sculptures using ceramics, metal, and fibers. Her work investigates the spectrum of black womanhood and addresses the stereotypes projected onto black women; furthermore, exploring the intersection of black womanhood and the effects of social constructions that uphold white ideas of gender and patriarchy. Jer’Lisa currently works and resides in Dallas, TX.

Instagram: @_jerlisa_

Elizabeth Hill

Artist Statement: My work serves as a personal exploration of containment and connectivity in two-dimensional and three-dimensional space. I have always been drawn to works of art that have some sort of three-dimensional element, and I explain this in my work by including textural components such as wire, fabric, string, found objects, or wood. (I want people to feel the urge to touch my art!) The objects I incorporate into my pieces are reduced to their basic, formalist qualities. As someone whose thoughts are hyperactive and entangled at any given hour of the day because of mental health issues, I see the simple act of placing shapes within shapes as an exercise in healthy mental compartmentalization. Layering 2-D and 3-D forms on top of and within one another is my way of sorting out the scrambled ball of static that inhabits my mind. By creating physical manifestations of this internal process, I feel that I’m investigating the connection between abstraction and my own humanity.

Bold colors and modulated linework are recurring elements throughout my body of work, and one of the main driving forces behind my process is a need to explore and fully understand the nuances of color theory. I enjoy testing out color combinations and creating a dialogue amongst the different hues. A good color story is such a crucial aspect of the art that I make, so when the narrative of the story doesn’t make sense in my eyes, the entire piece is off-balance.

My process is extremely intuitive, and I lean into what I’m feeling in the moment. This philosophy has helped me to realize that it’s okay to explore various styles simultaneously and melt them together to create something I wouldn’t have been able to conjure up otherwise. I often have to step back and let the work speak to me before I know which direction to move in, and this non-verbal conversation allows me to form a unique relationship with each piece I create.

Bio: Elizabeth Hill is a Dallas-based artist who recently graduated from the University of North Texas where she earned a B.F.A. in Studio Art with a concentration in Painting & Drawing, as well as a double minor in Women’s & Gender Studies and Art History. Her work has been shown throughout North Texas at galleries such as 500 X , Ro2 Art, Denton ARThaus, and UNT on the Square. She made an appearance in the 2017 publication of the North Texas Review, was one of the featured artists for the 2019 Women’s Day Extravaganza in Dallas, and was also a monthly featured artist at Denton's West Oak Coffee Bar for April 2018.

She is currently one of sixteen artists-in-residence at The Cedars Union. The majority of her body of work is a product of experimentation with various surfaces and textures, driven by intuitive process, dimensional dialogs, and color theory. 

Instagram: @_zabe_

Website: https://www.elizabethhill-art.com

David-Jeremiah

David-Jeremiah, FOGA: REAL-NIGGA Edition, 2018, Single Channel Video, Edition of 10, $500 (Each)

Artist Statement: FOGA is a complete “Release” Yoga program geared towards felons. Fogis wield guns during traditional poses building up to a therapeutic, imaginary act of violence against an imaginary cop instead of popping them hoes in real life.

Instagram: @davidhyphenjeremiah

Website: https://glasstire.com/events/2020/07/07/david-jeremiah-offerings/

Jas Mardis

Artist Statement: I create from a Southern African American tradition of storytelling and quilting with Baptist Faith and family sensibilities. Every created work strives to recreate a narrative of hopefulness and bonded strength. I am currently focusing on Migration era portraits and African tribal symbolism. Those are bonded characters that shaped me as a “Black Power Era” youth. They represent strength, community and uplifting. I’m working in leather as a statement of permanence. WE ARE HERE TO STAY! In our hope, agony, fear, love and strength! 

Bio: I am a Fabric & Leather Artist who is also a 2014 Inductee to The Texas Literary Hall of Fame for a 30 year career of award winning radio commentary, journalism, column and features writing, poetry and editing. 

 My work, in both literary and art forms, focuses on the fantastic African-American image and experience of the family story. I work in various media: fabric art, quilting, wood and leather burned portraiture and brass, iron and other metals. My images are both hand drawn and digital creations with stamping and block printing.

Instagram: @jasmardis

Website: www.jasmardis.com

Jamila Mendez

Artist Statement: Artistic expression has been a part of my life from very early on and I strive to develop my talents through the exploration of various mediums. I've done this by manipulating fabric, composition and perspective in photography or color, line and shape in painting.  You will often see the use of bold colors and repetitive shapes in my work to convey emotion, usually in combination with different textural elements.

Lately, I've been joining textiles with digital imagery and cardstock to create collages and multimedia works.  I like to build layers onto the canvas to create scenes of everyday life as well as portraits.  

I'm excited about what will emerge through my continued discovery of art and my goal is connect with people by illustrating the everyday intimacies and connection to all. 

Bio: Visual Arts have always been an important part of my life.  While growing up, my mother saw my love for drawing and enrolled me in private art lessons, as well as, an Art Summer Camp at Arts Magnet High School during my preteens.  It led me to major in Fashion Design with a minor in Art in college.

Immediately out of college, I began to freelance by making custom apparel for clients and hone my artistic skills by sketching, painting and taking photographs. In 2008, I decided to return to community college to gain my certification in Photography from Richland College.  My freelance work increased and I began to seek out full time jobs where I could further expand my artistic talents. I took up an offer to teach an After School Enrichment program to teach art to elementary kids, as well as an Instructor at a franchise sip & paint company.

In 2016, I decided to showcase my paintings and mixed media renderings to the public by submitting to art shows throughout the DFW Metroplex.  My artwork uses color as a tool to convey mood with abstract forms while touching on modern day topics throughout my images by incorporating mixed mediums of acrylic, collaging, digital optics and fabric. Sharing my work with the world is my ultimate goal.

Instagram: @mimichicboutique

Desireé Vaniecia

Artist Statement: The piece is based on a journal entry from when I was graduating from college. "I always use to try and move forward without looking back. The people I care for the most never stopped me but they always gave me flowers. Giving me blessings on my travels, and through those travels, I still hold onto my flowers. Though I always felt I left my family behind, I never really did. Before I knew it, all my paths guided me home. I am not bitter from this experience, I embrace it. I have grown and I have come to give flowers to the next."

Bio: Desireé Vaniecia is a contemporary painter who lives and works in Dallas, Texas. Raised in a matriarchal home, her work pays homage to her family and their legacy. Her distinctive personal style challenges a stereotype of black women constructed by society and the media. Her portraiture evokes both vulnerability and strength in the figures, either through posture, physical interaction, or compositional format. Gesture and poses are presented as powerful, whether through sexuality or assurance, while facial expressions and anatomical detail are left reduced and neutral within empty or vague settings.

Instagram: @desireevaniecia

Website: www.desireevaniecia.com