Victim of American Fear (Inspired by Oscar Grant)

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Victim of American Fear (Inspired by Oscar Grant), Oil on canvas, 20×24 inches, 2010

This will possibly lead itself into being a series.

Detail:

Sonia Sanchez

Oil on canvas, 2010

Sonia Sanchez is one of my favorite poets.
So I was pretty honored to be asked to do a portrait of her to be a part of “BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez: A Tribute in Word, Music and Dance”.
The tribute featured presentations from Ruby Dee, Talib Kweli, Haki Madhubuti and others.
It was a great event that I was happy to be a part of.

Sonia loved the painting. And I was glad.

Sonia and I with the portrait:

And, me and Ruby Dee. Just because.

Re:Form School

Me as a graduating 5th grader.

RE:FORM SCHOOL is a high profile group art exhibition, event series and public awareness campaign, taking place in New York City. Thousands of artists, parents, community leaders, educators and grass roots organizers are coming together in a vibrant and creative space in order to shine a light on what is working, explore the potential of what might be and celebrate the role imagination, creativity and innovation will play in the process.

Very glad to be participating in this exhibition along side some really amazing artists.
For the website, each artist was interviewed about their participation. Read mine here.

Kanye Gold

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Oil on canvas, 2010

 

For Women

“For Women” is a two-woman exhibition inspired by Nina Simone’s classic song, “Four Women”. This exhibition, composed of small to large scale paintings and photographs, is an exploration of sexuality, abuse, and identity. Philadelphia based artists Tatyana Fazlalizadeh (Philly 360 Creative Ambassador) and Lillian Cotton, two young, emerging African-American women artists, respectively create socially inspired work. In this exhibition, their focus will be on issues that surround the characters detailed in Nina Simone’s “Four Women”, the same issues that fall upon contemporary African-American women, including the artists themselves. The exhibition and reception will be held on September 17th, 2010, from 6-10pm, at Vivant Art Collection in Philadelphia.

I’ve been doing a lot of paintings of women. There are a number of topics and themes related to women I’ve been wanting to explore in my paintings. This show will be a display of some of those paintings and themes. I invited my friend Lillian Cotton, a fantastic painter, to do this show with me. Though her painting style differs from mine, her subject matter is similar, and I think our work will play nicely together in this exhibition.

The show is being sponsored by GPTMC’s Philly 360, the campaign that named me a Creative Ambassador of Philadelphia. And it is being held at the fabulous gallery, Vivant Art Collection in gallery central Old City.

The reception will feature food, drink, the premiere of my Philly 360 video, and I’ll be revealing NEW work not yet seen on my blog or website.

So come.

September 17th, 2010
6 – 10pm
Vivant Art Collection
60 N. 2nd St, Philadelphia

Black Hair and Flowers: Stephanie

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Oil on canvas, 2010

Black Hair and Flowers: Tasha

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Oil on canvas, 2010 (larger)

Detail

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf Film Poster

Film Poster I did for the upcoming adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s choreopoem “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf”.

Another version:

The original painting is oil on canvas, 16×20 inches.
What I like most about this painting is the light and the negative space.
I had a friend pose for me. Took a few photos of her in different poses with different lighting. They all came out pretty well. I loved her expression in this one.

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Oil on canvas, 2010

For anyone interested in buying a print of one or both of these posters, see my etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/tlynnfaz

Poster Design © Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, 2010

Silent Choices

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Oil on Canvas, 2010

Illustration done for Utne Reader. The article addresses the silence around abortion in the black community.

Painting Erykah Badu