Janelle Monae

Janelle Monae, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Oil on Canvas, 2010

So, Janelle Monae is pretty amazing.
I saw her live for the first time a couple weeks ago here in Philadelphia.
And I was blown away. Blooown away.
I did this portrait in about 2 hours. I try to paint pretty quickly when I’m making these time-lapse videos. I’ll probably go back into the painting later to just clean it up – add more details, fix anything that needs to be fixed, check the proportions of her face, etc…

Check out the video!

Brent Stirton

Brent Stirton Photography

A Few Pics From Manifest Equality

I wasn’t able to attend the Manifest Equality exhibition in LA, where my painting Nayyirah and Rasheeda was on display. But, my LA-based, very good friend, Jahmel, went for me. He sent me these pics today.

Inspiration

Tanishq Aarka Jewelry Ads

These expressive advertising posters were created by Suresh Natarajan from Mumbai, India, for jewelry company Tanishq. Rich colors, delicate light, very detailed composition, carefully attention to tones and texture… All this make an excellent series of posters.

…And He Loved It!

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh and Black Thought

On: Black Art and Black Artists

Select questions from my interview with Malcolm Nelson of The Liberator Magazine:

How do you define Black Art?
It’s a little hard to come up with a strict definition of black art. I think a loose description is: art created by black artists and/or art that’s representative of black culture/experience.

Do you feel that your definition of Black Art encapsulates what you are trying to do with your art? If not, why do you feel that your definition of Black Art is limited when it comes to defining your work?
I’m black. I’m an artist. My work mostly features black figures. But, I’m also a woman. I’m also Iranian. I also create work that does not feature black figures. Ultimately, I want my work to tell stories of people. And if the main theme throughout these stories is “blackness” or “womanhood” than I’m okay with that because those are two obvious themes in my own life. But, while I do not mind the label “black art” and I do embrace it, I want to be understood as being more complex than that because 1) “blackness” is very complex and 2) I hope to have an agenda with my art that extends beyond what the general idea of what black art is.

Do you feel that all Black Art must have an interwoven sociopolitical message which is germane to the Black aesthetic?
No, I do not. If all black artists created sociopolitical work and followed one formula, then the art world would be very bored with it. The fact is, art is so wide and vast and diverse. So much so, that I’ve often had the conversation of “what is art?”. And black artists are just as diverse as the art world itself. Being black should not limit you to creating one aesthetic. I paint the subject matter that I do because I enjoy it. I’m drawn to a certain color palette, and lighting, and faces. I don’t paint the content that I paint simply because I’m black, I paint it because I want to. That’s the great thing about being an artist: the freedom. You can create anything and everything you want.

Black Thought

Black Thought, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 2010