The VOTE Project

Live Arts is honored to announce the four commissioned artists of The VOTE Project installation, on view at the Ford Foundation Live Gallery later this month: Dennis RedMoon Darkeem, Ayo Janeen Jackson, Stephon Senegal, and Hong Wu.

Four commissioned artists and the letter they will be responsible for:

V – Stephon Senegal

O – Dennis RedMoon Darkeem

T – Hong Wu

E – Ayo Janeen Jackson

Selected by a panel of art world luminaries including Nick Cave, Bob Faust, Thelma Golden, Jenny Holzer, Glenn Ligon, Andrea Rosen, and Bjorn Amelan, the commissioned artists were chosen from an open call. Each artist will receive an honorarium of $1,000 and be responsible for designing and executing one of the four letters of VOTE which will be on display in the lobby at New York Live Arts.

In the weeks leading up to what may be the most important election of our lifetime, New York Live Arts has partnered with For Freedoms’ Awakening 2020 campaign to encourage more savvy and joyful civic engagement. Awakening 2020 aims to change the landscape of voting by educating people about the potential difficulties of voting, providing strategies for working around voter suppression, and supplying creative, free-use tool kits that instruct voters on how to engage their communities in this election.

The VOTE Project is made possible in part by the generous support of Eleanor Friedman and will be available for in-person viewing October 19th – December 1st at New York Live Arts, 219 West 19th Street.

To review New York Live Arts’ best practices guidelines and reopening plan, visit our website. Visitor protocols Live Arts has put in place for both gallery shows and lobby activations include:

• There will be a limit on visitors in the space to align with the city’s current social distancing protocol.

• If the gallery is at capacity, visitors may be asked to wait outside the gallery or return later.

• Visitors are required to wear masks for the duration of their visit.

• Hand sanitizer will be provided for visitors at the front desk.

• The front desk will abide by a paperless policy.  Information about the exhibitions and events are available at newyorklivearts.org.

• New York Live Arts has installed the Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization system which has been shown to neutralize 99.4% of SARS-CoV-2 in just 30 minutes.

DENNIS REDMOON DARKEEM
Dennis RedMoon Darkeem is inspired to create artwork based on the familiar objects that he views through his daily travels. He discovers elements in existing architecture and among everyday items found within the home. Ultimately, he sets out to express a meaningful story about events in his life and those found with the communities with whom he works. Darkeem utilizes different media in the creation of his work which allows great versatility and a rich viewer experience as the eye uncovers the multiple layers that often characterize mixed media art. Since his work as a professional artist has commenced in the early 2000s, it has evolved into critiquing social and political issues affecting US and indigenous Native American culture. Much of his art has focused on issues like institutionalized racism and classism, jarring stereotypes, and displacement of people of color. As a multimedia artist, Darkeem expresses these motifs through fine art, performance, and photography.

AYO JANEEN JACKSON
New York-based multidisciplinary artist Ayo Janeen Jackson (b. 1978) has extensive experience in dance and maintains a body based visual practice. Originally from North Carolina, Jackson graduated with her BFA in Dance from UNC School of the Arts. A Princess Grace award winner, Jackson established her artistic career with The Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Dance Company, continuing with the French contemporary ballet company, Ballet Preljocaj. After living in Europe, Jackson returned to NYC performing in Julie Taymor’s Turn Off the Dark (Spiderman on Broadway). Jackson continued to assist Bill T. Jones choreographically, while producing a body of visual artwork, which led to her to participate in several gallery exhibitions. Jackson is currently in post-production for her short film TEAR SUTURE SCAB. She holds a Masters in Interdisciplinary Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2018).

STEPHON SENEGAL
Stephon Senegal is an artist working primarily in assemblage and sculpture. His art practice examines martial philosophies as a device of both colonization and insurgency. The tenets of Creolization and his embracing of its subversive nature appear to be an underpinning of his practice. In the compositions he reconfigures human, animal and mechanical parts as visual odes to syncretization. His upbringing in Louisiana provides a trove of experiential drivers for the objects he makes. As part of his practice, Stephon creates site-specific installations in underprivileged communities of color. Some of his recent installations include the Liberty City public housing complex in Miami Florida, Marcy Houses and Brownsville in Brooklyn New York. Senegal presently lives and works in New York City. @stephonsnegal

HONG WU
After spending 15 years as a men’s dress furnishings designer for various heritage companies, I was recently released from my service. I came to realize my creativity could be used towards promoting the greater good, in this case, to vote for what’s right in the upcoming election. Being a mother of two young children, I am also using my creations as educational tools to introduce and spark conversations about civic rights and responsibilities; furthermore, to encourage participation in making things right for everyone. Although my choice of medium was primarily textiles in the past, I am exploring new mediums, including digital arts for my work.