For centuries, visual art has been a Eurocentric, male-dominated field, and while women have made great strides toward equal representation in the art world, many artists would argue that there’s still a long way to go. These Black visual artists have built robust careers in the face of adversity and strive to tell their personal stories that have too often been left out of the mainstream narrative. Celebrate their work and their stories in honor of Women’s History Month.
Shervonne Neckles
Touched, Shervonne Neckles, 2016. Image: Mike Jensen Photography/ courtesy Johnson Lowe Gallery.
Shervonne Neckles draws on her Afro-Caribbean American traditions and identity to create her art. She works in multiple mediums—textiles, printmaking, sculpture and more—to retell stories of history, mythology and personal experience. “My narratives bridge history and the present, life and the afterlife, mythology and the real and seriousness with play,” she says. “This gesture of remembering honors and makes visible ancestors that might otherwise be lost or forgotten.” Her work is currently featured in The Alchemists exhibition at the Johnson Lowe Gallery in Atlanta.
Kim Ahonoukoun
Midnight in the Everglades, Kim Ahonoukoun, 2020. Image: courtesy of Kim Ahonoukoun.
Fresh off her artist-in-residency at Monet’s Garden, the Immersive Experience in New York, Kim Ahonoukoun is prepping for an upcoming solo show at New York City’s Tambaran2 Gallery, starting April 14, 2023. This contemporary impressionist who is inspired by French artist Claude Monet realized her true calling to paint during the pandemic, and she left her career in the legal corporate world to pursue her passion. Finding “the courage to be happy” helped fulfill her passion to create images immersed in color, light and serenity.
Tatianna Adkins
Butterfly Heart, Tatianna Adkins, 2022. Image: courtesy of Tatianna Adkins.
Tatianna Adkins is an artist from Alaska who taps into her spiritual creativity. She’s been drawing since she was 5 years old and likes to do any art style she can get her hands on. “I am always learning and trying something new,” Adkins says. “Creating is a joyful act of celebration for me and I like to bring others into that same experience through the work that is produced.” Her piece Butterfly Heart is a work that “explains the transformative work of redemption through the blood of Jesus in the heart and soul of those who accept the finished work of the cross.”
