Black Art Matters 2021: Celebration with Intention
Happy February! It’s one of our favorite months of the year.
We’re back with our annual Black Art Matters for Black History Month! This year, our goal and theme is exercising “Celebration with Intention”. After one of the most uncertain years we’ve experienced in recent memory, we want to take a beat to celebrate meaningfully and with purpose.
Without further ado, we’d like to introduce our power roster of Curators for BAM 2021 “Celebration with Intention”.
Jamal Peters is a proud New Rochelle, New York native that is currently based in Los Angeles. Jamal has over 8 years of experience as a director, editor, videographer and photographer working for post production and entertainment companies such as Company 3, Wild Child, McCann World Group and RCA Records.
His most recent endeavor is co-founding Jasper Seven. A production company created with
the hopes of achieving his ultimate goal of producing meaningful, artistic visuals. He’s very
excited to tackle 2021 and all that it has in store.
Stay tuned for Jamal’s feature later this week and his livestream on Zoom and across TLNT socials on Monday, February 8th at 7PM EST!
Connect with Jamal:
www.jamalpeters.net | Instagram
Ashley-Simone McKenzie
Ashley-Simone McKenzie is a multidisciplinary artist and educator based in New York.
An artist of many styles, she brings an instinctual, freehand approach to an ever-changing series of afro-surreal portraits, tribal designs, and cartoons; utilizing intricate linework, geometric patterns, and psychedelic imagery to define her work.
Known for her ongoing quest to expand her technical abilities, the variety of her work has grown to include animations, carpentry, illustrations, and paintings.
Keep your eyes peeled for Ashley’s feature next week and tune in for her livestream on Zoom across TLNT socials on Monday, February 15th at 7PM EST!
Connect with Ashley-Simone:
www.ashleysimone.art | Instagram
Thomcat23
Early in his career, Thomcat23 worked as a graphic designer in the sports marketing world, working with clients including the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers, as well as Minor League Baseball, hockey, and Arena League Football teams. During this time, Thomcat23’s passion for illustration grew, concurrently with the launching of Instagram. On his daily commute, he began using the time to get back to his artist roots, and with some persuasion started posting his daily drawings. He quickly grew a following because of his prolific nature. This is how Thomcat23 was born.
Since that time, Thomcat23 has garnered a sizable social media following, leading him to gallery shows as well as collaborations with companies such as Nike/ Sneaker-Lab (Now Cultivator), Moment Watches, and other artists.
Keep your eyes peeled for Thomcat23’s feature on the third week and tune in for his Livestream on Zoom and across TLNT socials on Monday, February 22nd at 7PM EST.
Connect with Thomcat23:
Instagram
Polly Irungu
Multimedia journalist, digital editor and self-taught photographer Polly Irungu is the founder of Black Women Photographers, a global community and directory of Black women and non-binary photographers.
Polly’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including NPR, BBC, Refinery29, PetaPixel, Creative Live, AfroTech, WNYC, The Washington Post, BuzzFeed, CNN, HuffPost, OkayPlayer, OkayAfrica, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and the University of Oregon.
Stay tuned for Polly’s editorial, going live in the last week of February and her livestream interview on Zoom and across TLNT Socials February 26th at 7PM EST when we wrap up our month together.
Connect with Polly:
www.pollyirungu.com | Instagram
Black Women Photographers
www.blackwomenphotographers.com | Instagram
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Our selected Curators this year will be regularly curating and adding work to the Black Art Matters Discover Page on Ello. Share some of your works to the Black Art Matters category for a chance to be curated into the official BAM page by the Ello staff! And make sure to tag us and use the hashtag #BlackArtMatters for a chance to be featured on our socials as well.
And that’s not all—we’re launching our first Ello Creative Brief of the year later this week to celebrate Black Art Matters! Keep your eyes peeled for the chance to share your inspiring and uplifting artwork with our panel of curators and the rest of the world. 10 selected works will be featured on Ello and beyond.
We’re so excited to spend this month with you, celebrating with intention. We’ve got a lot in store for you this year for BAM 2021. Stay tuned for more!
