Selebrasyon! Open Studio Tours
Sunday afternoons throughout Selebrasyon!, view new work by visiting the creative studios of Haitian and Haitian-American artists for an intimate opportunity to discuss their career, style, and inspiration.
May 25
Mahalia Stines
Open Studio Hours: 3 – 7pm Location: 112 2nd Ave, Studio 6, Brooklyn, NY 11215 Map
Mahalia Stines is a Haitian-American designer based in Brooklyn, NY. She describes her work as “Brooklyn meets the Tropics.” Creative Director and Designer for her store “Manny’s Sister”, Stines introduces vèvès into her interesting and colorful accessories to fit anyone’s personality and style, tying spirituality to fashion. Stines believes that “what we wear should [tell more] about who we are than the size of our bank accounts. www.artsicle.com/Mahalia-Stines
June 1
Eric Girault
“My work depicts the humbleness of everyday life. Life is everywhere; sweet, simple, and sincere in direct vibration with nature. The vibration is not only in the market scene of the suburb, on the fishermen’s boats, or on the wharf with the sailors, but lies in a communication that is deeper.”
Eric Girault was born in Jeremie on Haiti’s southern peninsula, on December 4, 1937. Girault is called “The Vibration of Life” for the sensation viewers get from his work. Today, although he only has 25% of his foggy vision left, he continues to be inspired and creates art every day in his studio in New York City. www.ericgiraultstudio.com
June 8
Shakespeare Guirand
Open Studio Hours: 1 – 4pm Location: 36 Troy Avenue, Brooklyn, NY11213 Map
“As a young prince growing up, a sense of holiness blew over my mind. I always felt with wonder the energies and elements that surround us, so alive in this mystical land. My career as a mysticism artist started in Atlanta, Georgia, where the spirit comes at the end of my brushes. Always engaged, I went to live in Brooklyn, a major turning point in my artistic life.”
Shakespeare Guirand was born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. www.shakespeareguirandart.com
Sophia Domeville
Open Studio Hours: 1 – 5pm Location: Gallery Aferro, 73 Market Street, Newark, NJ 07102 Map
A studio arts graduate of The College of New Rochelle, Sophia Domeville is a Haitian American Abstract Expressionist whose usage of expressive colors, textures and collage creates a Universal Language through Abstract Art. Her work can best be described as, “Bold, explosive, and deeply emotional.”
Domeville is a member of an artist collective, “Essential Elements Creative Collective” for Gallery Affero 2014 studio residency program. www.sophiadomeville.com/
June 25
Nadïne LaFond
Open Studio Hours: 1 – 5pm Location: 122 Washington Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205 Map
“Making art for me starts with moments that immediately strike me as lessons. When the underlying tale begins to emerge, I follow that energy.”
Nadïne LaFond is a Haitian-American painter/mixed media artist working on paper, canvas, wood and found objects, creating images that explore journey and dimension through the layering of symbols. Relying on cues from Nature and personal experiences, her work layers the bird’s eye view and the eye to eye encounter at once. www.artlives.net
Francks Deceus
Open Studio Hours: 1 – 5pm Location: 122 Washington Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205 Map
“[The] time period following major social events, crises, upheavals, is particularly interesting to me; because at these crucial moments – those hours, days, weeks or months – we come together, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or class. We are able to respond to each other as human and nothing else. I have always been interested in events and issues that affect large groups of people simultaneously.”
The work is austere and playful in equal measure. The large groupings suggest a particular tension and mystery, yet the figures retain their own individual identity within a complex social structure. www.fdeceusart.com
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