PRIZM Art Fair 2020 Presents Intersections of African Diasporic Perspectives in Cinema and Contemporary Art

Prizm Art Fair– dedicated to exhibiting international artists from the African Diaspora – returns with its eighth edition, taking place from December 1 to 21, 2020. A PATRON preview week will take place from November 24 to 30, 2020. PRIZM Art Fair 2020 will be available for online viewing through the PRIZM Art Fair website and Artsy.net. Film screenings and a panel talks program will be available through the fair’s website. PRIZM Art Fair is presented in partnership with the Green Family Foundation and the Knight Foundation, with media partners Artsy and Sugarcane Magazine.

For its eighth edition, PRIZM will present the work of 45 artists within a curated exhibition entitled Noir, Noir: Meditations On African Cinema And Its Influence On Visual Art curated and organized by William Cordova and Mikhaile Solomon.

Noir, Noir is inspired by Senegalese film director, producer and writer Ousmane Sembene who remarked of the importance of cinema, “I think cinema is needed throughout Africa because we are lagging behind in the knowledge of our own history. I think we need to create a culture that is our own.” COVID-19 and the murder of Black people by police coupled with continued demonstrations for racial equity reignite transgressions veiled thinly in society’s moral fabric. “African Diasporic communities have attempted repeatedly to blanket themselves from a host of incessant obstacles–systemic injustice, racism, economic disparity, gender inequality–while the goal post of progress stretched farther away with each giant leap made towards it,” says Mikhaile Solomon, Founder and Director of PRIZM Art Fair. The loss of life of thousands of African descendants has heralded a mandatory denouncing of current and past atrocities committed against the global African community.

From this vantage point, PRIZM Art Fair revisits and contemplates the layered rendering of complex communal histories through the lens of African/Diasporic filmmakers past and present, seeking a deeper understanding of global African identity through all evaluation of its intersections with contemporary visual art. Noir, Noir will examine how these films have functioned as harbingers of global African/Diasporic liberation movements and expound the intersections between contemporary art practice and the spectrum of African/Diasporic film traditions. Noir, Noir references the African avant-garde film tradition as well as contemporary African/Diasporic filmmakers to explore how visual artists have created bodies of work inspired by narratives, aesthetics, cultural notes, and social commentaries poetically rendered in the various cinematic modalities.

PRIZM’s programming will include thirteen Gallery Exhibitors across the United States, Caribbean and the African continent, representing forty-two artists from 11 countries, including Barbados, Ethiopia, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Nigeria, Saint Maarten, South Africa, Trinidad and the United States. Additionally, PRIZM will feature emerging Miami-based artists who are actively engaged in perpetuating the city’s growth as a cultural hub. These artists also address socio-political and cultural issues pertinent to the people of African descent in Miami and beyond.

PARTICIPATING GALLERIES Band of Vices (Los Angeles), Calabar Gallery (New York City), Dominique Gallery (Los Angeles), Ela Espaco Luanda Arte (Luanda) Dyman Gallery (Stellenbosch, South Africa), First Floor Gallery (Harare, Zimbabwe), Galerie Myrtis (Baltimore), Melrose Gallery (Johannesburg, South Africa), Morton Fine Art (Washington, D.C.), Retro Africa (Abuja), Superposition Gallery (Los Angeles) and Suzie Wong Presents (Kingston, Jamaica).

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS PRIZM Art Fair will feature artworks by Gavin Benjamin, Alicia Brown, Nyame Brown, Milena Carranza, Albert Chong, yanira collado, Sofía Córdova, Christa David, Francks Deceus, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Mark Fleuridor, David Gumbs, Versia Harris, LaToya Hobbs, Ariston Jack, Deborah Jack, Ajamu Kojo, N. Masani Landfair, Peter Wayne Lewis, Sthenjwa Luthuli, Jennifer Mack-Watkins, Franciso Maso, Jared McGriff, Wendell McShine, Trokon Nagbe, Aramis O'Reilly, Imo Nse Omeh, Dionis Ortiz, Charly Palmer, Johanne Rahaman, Ato Ribeiro, Sheena Rose, Glenn Saffo, Kabuya Pamela Saffo, Onajide Shabaka, John Sims, Nyugen Smith, Todd, Sephora Woldu, Ezra Wube, and Dominique Zinkpe, and more to be announced.

PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS

Black Dealer Talk (BDT) Series: Basquiat | October 24, 2020, 5:30pm. BDT is a series that highlights the unique challenges that Black dealers and curators face in the art industry, even when dealing with Black art. These talks are created to be informative and share a behind-the-scenes perspective on art dealing. BDT will stream on the PRIZM website and is hosted by Stevenson Dunn, Jr. and Erwin John, directors of The Bishop Gallery in Brooklyn, NY.

PRIZM Projects Give Miami Day Campaign | November 19 - 20, 2020, 12:00 am - 12:00am. PRIZM Projects participates in its third Miami Foundation Annual Give Miami Day event, the biggest annual giving event in the Southeast United States. Visit PRIZM’s Give Miami Day profile throughout the twenty-four-hour giving event and donate to support PRIZM Projects and PRIZM’s cultural programming. Contributions of $25 or more will be matched by the Miami Foundation. Donations will support PRIZM’s exhibition programming, PRIZM Fellowship program fostering arts and arts administration education through a six-month apprenticeship with PRIZM, and the growth and outreach of the annual art fair.

PRIZM Preview | November 24 to 30, 2020. Registered PATRON patrons will receive early access to view PRIZM on Prizm’s website. Three tiers of Patron registration are available. All Patrons will receive a Prizm package, by US Mail, that includes a catalog and bottle of wine to partake in the virtual PRIZM Preview Patron Dinner, scheduled for Nov. 30 and 6:30 - 8:30 pm. To register for the PRIZM Patron program contact [email protected].

Virtual PRIZM Preview Patron Dinner | Nov. 30 and 6:30 - 8:30 pm. Available to registered patrons only. To register for the PRIZM Patron program contact [email protected].

This year, we are temporarily migrating our signature Prizm Preview event to our new digital home. Patrons will enjoy a first look of the fair with early access to Gallery Viewing Rooms and Individual Artist November 24-30, 2020. Patrons will also receive the Prizm 2020 Catalog, and access to Prizm Preview on November 30th host by Actress and consummate Art Collector, CCH Pounder. The evening will begin with a cooking demonstration by Chef Santana Burriss that you can follow in your kitchen. You will receive the recipe for Chef Santana’s curated meal in your Prizm Patron Package the week of November 24th.

PRIZM General Opening | December 1, 2020. Available through PRIZM Art Fair website and Artsy.net.

PRIZM Film Screening and Talks Schedule | December 3 to December 21, 2020, 5:30pm. Additional details to be announced.

PRIZM Art Fair is an annual art fair that produces a cutting-edge platform that is multidisciplinary in scope. PRIZM’s mission is to expand the spectrum of exhibiting international artists from Africa, the African diaspora and emerging markets, who reflect global trends in contemporary art. These artists bring into focus socio-political and cultural issues pertinent to the people of African descent in Miami and around the world. Each year the fair highlights different curators to present salient works in solo presentations that highlight the diversity in contemporary visual art practices today. PRIZM operates workshops and special events throughout the year to advance critical dialogue and sharpen the lens through which we view and understand contemporary art. In addition to engaging nationally and internationally, PRIZM has a strong commitment to the local Miami cultural community. PRIZM works to expand the visual arts landscape of Miami, nurture and educate its constituents and provide forums for cross-cultural exchange, bringing a broader audience to new and existing local art spaces.