Guest Curator Duane Cyrus is seeking artist submissions for a special exhibition coming to SECCA's Main Gallery in November.

Above image courtesy of Devin Newkirk.

Black@Intersection: Moving Images from Contemporary Black Voices in Art

Curated by Duane Cyrus, in collaboration with the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art

CALL FOR ARTISTS FOR EXHIBITION SUBMISSIONS

Information to Know

***SUBMISSION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JULY 15***

We are especially seeking photographic works. However, work in other disciplines -- including but not limited to film, sculpture, mural, and poetry -- are encouraged to apply. If you have a unique artistic approach or form -- let us know!

Exhibition Dates: November 18, 2021 - April 17, 2022 (subject to change)

Entry fee – none

Deadline to Apply: July 15, 2021***

Applications will be accepted through July 15, 2021 and selected artists will be notified on or before August 1, 2021.

All work must be created within the last 5 years.

Artists may submit up to 5 works of art

Each artist selected will receive a participation honorarium

SECCA will work with each artist to arrange shipping/return or printing of artwork, artists will not have to pay any shipping fees.

Acceptance into exhibition does not require artist travel, but artists are encouraged to attend.

How to Apply

Submit a single PDF that includes the following:

– Artist contact information (include social media links if possible)

– Letter of interest (no more than 300 words)--tell us why to select your work?

– 1-5 art works for consideration (printed, embedded image or url link accepted)

– Checklist with titles, dates, dimensions, media and descriptions (no more than 150 words per work).

– Resume or CV

Submit Completed applications to:

About Black@Intersection

Movement, Flow, Adaptation, Transition, and Contrast—are all seminal components of the Black experience in America. African Diasporic people have always taken their myriad experiences and translated them into new fluid forms of social and cultural expression—from religion to soul food to jazz to hip hop. As a curator and artist working in live performance, photography, and film, Duane Cyrus is deeply connected to the cultural value created when forms intersect. Brenda Dixon Gottschild's definition of high affect juxtaposition as one of the aspects of an "Africanist aesthetic" as well as Dr. Kimberlee Crenshaw's coining of the term "intersectionality" inform the foundation and inquiry of this exhibit. Black@Intersection features Black and African Diasporic artists from North Carolina and beyond. The artists simultaneously exemplify and defy–yet continue to redefine the perceived norms around concepts of Blackness as we see it in our world. They resist the nullifying commodification of blackness into a type of monolith and do so by creating works that reify the world on their own terms.

Themes (subject to change)

– Understanding the socio-political reasons for supporting Black Lives. Focus on the past year of activism in support of Black Lives including other images of Black life during the pandemic.

– Themes of Blackness as fluidity & movement. A geography of Black mobility. Illuminating the diversity and movement within Blackness.

– The Black body as a site of agency and power for Black lives.

– Black Women in activism and leadership.

– Blackness as a form of sustainable connectivity to the Earth.

Entry Information

All of the pieces in this exhibition need to be high-quality and display worthy. The work can also embrace any of the themes or topics listed above. Photography, film, music, dance, poetry and other mediums within the thematic areas listed above are encouraged for submission.

The curatorial inquiry is Photography with other disciplines included. Viewers will experience themed areas that contribute to a narrative of diversity within Blackness. Portraiture, photojournalism, abstract, figurative, and other genres are open for consideration.

Eligibility

All of the objects MUST be original works by the applicant, and created within the last five years. Any artist from North Carolina and beyond are able to apply. SECCA anticipates the majority of the exhibition will be wall-hung works of art but other works may be included. SECCA is looking for artists with diverse perspectives who are part of the African Diaspora for work consideration. Women and LGBTQIA+ artists are encouraged to apply. Artists who do not prescribe to categories are also encouraged to apply.

Questions?

Email: