Can I Pay My Rent Tho?

Finding a way to financially sustain ourselves while sustaining our souls through art-making has always been a struggle, particularly for QTPOC artists. 

That’s why Codify Art was thrilled to welcome J Mase III to facilitate Can I Pay My Rent Tho?!, a workshop centered on making a space for artists to develop long-term strategies towards a life supported by our creative work. Mase walked through tangible steps on how to better market ourselves and create a sustainable financial plan. 

Check out below five takeaways from the workshop and pics from the day! 

Five Takeaways

1.     Don’t be afraid to ask! Sometimes as folks of color, we don’t want to (or have been taught not to) ask for help. If you happen to fall into this bucket, try reframing asking for help as asking for the people who you love and care about you.

2.     Create your network! Build a database of people, groups and institutions that you can e-blast quarterly about your work in order to stay relevant. Put up to three people from the same institution since positions listed on websites can become outdated quickly

3.     Don’t underprice yourself! Do research to see what the current market is in your artistic practice. It’s better to shoot for a high number and then negotiate towards the middle as opposed to selling yourself – and your worth – short.

4.     Have varying levels of art. Some folks can only pay $10 for art. Some institutions can pay $10,000. Marketing a wide range allows for greater accessibility to your work – and enables you to get the most bang for your buck.

5.     When people are buying your art, they are investing in you! Think about how you can humanize yourself and tell your story so investors are interested in supporting you in the long-term.

J Mase III is a Black/trans/queer poet based in Seattle, by way of NYC. As an educator, he has worked with thousands of community members in the US, the UK, and Canada on the needs of LGBTQIA youth and adults in spaces such as K-12 schools, universities, faith communities, and restricted care facilities among others. Contact J Mase III here if you want to book him for a workshop or poetry gig!

Have a workshop for QTPOC artists or know someone else who does? Email us at hi@codifyart.com to see if we would be the perfect match for your workshop!

A New Routine

I started doing yoga in January 2016 right after I got fired from my job.

I was overwhelmed, anxious and sad. The depression from a long, gray winter began to sink in. The pace and hustle of New York dictated all of my decisions and actions. All of my energy was spent on impressing my bosses, producing the next event, or worrying about the calls I would have to squeeze in between food and an endless line of meetings. I completely lost sight of the things that made me happy.  I was distracted by the unrealistic drive for professional success and as a result, forgot to take time to think about me. Life was an 8-3AM grind that never ended. I needed a new routine.

I’d heard enthusiastic testimonies about the benefits of yoga from friends, online lifestyle blogs, and self-care sites. Yes, I was looking for something physical to do to start getting into summer shape, but I was also looking for self-care remedies to counteract my (self-diagnosed) depression. My friend suggested Lesley Fightmaster, a YouTube self directed yoga class. It was an easy sell; I was willing to do anything to change the state I was in. Day One, I sat on my makeshift yoga mat—an old beach towel—and pressed play.

After my first week of doing yoga, the tension and pain I was physically carrying dissolved from my back. I hadn’t realized how out of touch I was with my body.  Simple stretching exercises that seemed reminiscent of my childhood P.E. days were matched with intense breathing, stillness, and focus. Basic motions grew into more complicated formations, engaging my core and mind. I could definitely FEEL that something was happening.

I am not a yoga expert, nor do I consider myself part of the Yogi subculture, but I have learned a tremendous amount about my body, mind, breath and strength. One of my biggest takeaways from practicing yoga is freeing myself of expectations when I come to the mat. I couldn’t gracefully slide into a split or a perfectly balanced headstand when I started, and I still can't, but that's not even the point! I am on a journey of reconnecting with myself, a person who was lost between schedules and hectic overproducing. Realigning and readjusting my expectations for my day-to-day was clearly the next step in negotiating a healthier and more balanced life. Yoga allowed me to be honest and present with myself wherever I was, wherever I am, and—I daresay—wherever you are.

It's been 9 months since embarking into the world of self-employment and freelance. And now, I do yoga almost everyday. I wake up and spend the first two hours of my morning focusing on my mind and body and reflecting on my goals for the day. Only then do I begin to tackle the work and chaos that comes with freelance life. Some days, I only have 10 minutes in the morning to work out, but taking even that small moment to connect with myself is important.  In the few months that I have been doing yoga, I see a stark contrast between where I started and where I am now. I am happier. I feel more grounded. I have more energy. I am more in tune with the things I need to do just for me. The list could go on! I am definitely a work in progress, but being present and honest with myself in the process is a part of the journey.

Codify Art had a great time at Wanderlust 108 Brooklyn this year.  Below are a few images from the day!

Work. Presented by Codify Art and OUTLET Fine Art

OUTLET Fine Art in collaboration with CODIFY ART is pleased to present WORK. Featuring work by Jarrett Key, Jon Key, and Kat JK Lee, and facilitated by Leandro A. Zaneti, please join us for an opening reception Friday July 8 from 7-10pm. The exhibition will continue through July 24th. 

CODIFY ART is a Brooklyn-based collective of multidisciplinary artists whose mission is to create, produce, and showcase work that foregrounds the voices of people of color, particularly those of women and queer people of color. 

This is Work. A reaction to present realities, a mirror to identities both projected onto and embodied by alterity. The work of inhabiting an identity. It is declarative; it is a claiming of space by queer, POC bodies through the art object. Through manifold mediums and styles, CODIFY confronts the multiplicity of its constituents, its greater communities, and society at large. As an exhibition, Work. is a stand in for these selves; Work. is a representative, an icon, an effigy. Through bodies and permanent impressions on paper, repurposed imagery and cloaked soundscapes, CODIFY investigates, as individuals, the diversity and nuance within an identifier and upholds, as a collective, its larger histories.

Jarrett Key’s hair painting series marries performance and visual art through codified movement, tempera paint and a ponytail, straightened with a hot comb. This literal “hairbrush” transcribes the movements and gestures of the embodied tool. Each mark on the canvas is a signature of identity, a relic of performance. Jarrett will perform a site specific rendition of his “Hair Painting.” The culminating piece will be on display, accompanied by video documenting the painting/performance process.

Kameron Neal's work investigates the intersection of ritual, performance and identity through film. With repetition and layering, his films denature the original source to bring attention to the personal trials of the creative process. Kameron's "Hair Painting" collaboration with Jarrett Key is an act of translating, documenting and reinterpreting history with an affirming gaze. These films provide a frame for an intimate exploration of growth and self-empowerment.

Jarrett’s accompanying I AM/AIN’T I  series is defined by its use of text and oil paint to create narratives of strength and courage in a time of despair and vulnerability. The print series investigates the value of black lives, from slavery to present day.

Jon Key explores the tension and fragmentation of identity in his work. Through photography, collage, and color  he creates intimate portraits that recount the experiences of confronting his own queerness, blackness, southerness, and family. Similar to how identities do not merge seamlessly or portray one person, his collage elements are not subsumed when placed against each other, yet still read as one body. Through the themes of love, pain, dislocation and abuse, the work reflects the resolve of the physical and emotional self.

Projections, distortions, transparencies, ghostly objects that suggest a texture only for fingers to meet with glass—these are the markers of Kat JK Lee’s work: simulations of self-portraiture, where the self is not necessarily a portrait. Like navigating-public-arenas-whilst-marginalized, each piece is an exercise in obfuscation, a presentation dependent upon a halfhearted deception of the senses. With interpolation as necessity and speculation as creed, Kat constructs a non-binary, second-gen, bi-coastal canon for themself with Google (mis)translations, Easter egging, and evolutionary adaptations that are less bodyhacking and more fursona, all couched in the vocabulary of a Korean-American science fiction. An amalgamation of narratives, Kat’s work employs technology as confidante, survival as futurity, and reclamation as an act of genesis.

The members of Codify Art are Sharina Gordon, Jarrett Key, Jon Key, Kat JK Lee, Chantel Whittle and Leandro Zaneti.

OUTLET Fine Art is an exhibition space in Brooklyn dedicated to presenting innovative and dynamic programming. They host monthly exhibitions and workshops designed to engage and inspire through a comprehensive arts experience. At the root of OUTLET, they believe in promoting creativity through exhibitions, collaborations, and out-of-the-box explorations

[dot]COM: A Codify Open Mic Night

[dot]COM, or [dot]Codify Open Mic, welcomes members of our community to share their talents at 440 Studios in the East Village! The first half of the night will be scheduled programming featuring dance, music, and poetry, after which we'll open it up to interested performers. 

Get excited for this very excellent lineup, and click through the links for a what-to-expect on May 31 in the room where it happens:

Whitney C. White

Odera Igbokwe

MJ Batson

Jess X. Chen

Marcus Bedinger

Whitney C. White — Music (Indie)

Odera Igbokwe — Dance

MJ Batson — Music (Indie)

Jeffrey Velez — Music (Jazz)

Jess X. Chen — Spoken Word

Marcus Bedinger — Music

Yaya McKoy — Spoken Word

Paco Salas Pérez — Poetry Reading

When and Where
May 31, 2016, 7-9PM
440 Studios
440 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10003
$10 Suggested Donation

See you there!
 

Bau Haus Semi-Annual III: SOURCE MATERIALS

Codify Art presents SOURCE MATERIALS, a show of new work by five artists, at Bau Haus, a Brooklyn-based live/work studio, community art space, and Codify partner. This show marks Bau Haus' first anniversary! Come celebrate with us at our opening and afterparty.

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SOURCE MATERIALS

@Bau Haus

Artists: Jarrett Key, Jonathan Key, Kat JK Lee, Kameron Neal, Hannah Lutz Winkler
Presented by Codify Art

April 30, 2016

The idea of the artist as solitary genius, working alone in their studio under the frenzy of sublime inspiration, has [mostly] been dethroned by the realities of contemporary practice. Removed from such a pedestal, artists have utilized a wealth of materials beyond those traditionally purposed for art-making—found objects, archival documents, other artworks—to create in a manner reflective of society’s holistic experience of the world. But this development introduces a complication. When the components comprising an artwork bring with them pre-existing utilities, purposes, and histories, does the artwork subsume them? Transcend them? Celebrate or fail them? Where are the edges of a composition? 

Through various mediums and from diverse directions, the five artists featured in SOURCE MATERIALS engage these questions and explore the potential for an ambiguity that enriches, rather than confuses, a finalized piece.

Jarrett Key’s paintings explicitly insert themselves into a specifically black (art) historical dialogue. With references ranging from Glenn Ligon to primary source diagrams of slave ships, Jarrett’s work does not pretend at an end in itself or an existence within a vacuum. Instead, it acts as a conduit, actively engaging in an existing conversation and leaving the door open for continuation.

Collage is an art form with an inherent tension, simultaneously a single piece and many pieces together. Jonathan Key utilizes this form to connect highly personal narratives to the nameless faces in civil rights photography. In this juxtaposition of vivid memory and the forgotten, a contemporary tableau revives that which was relegated to the archives, a second life that extends the half-life of both sides beyond their expected spans.

Drawing from such existing Internet phenomena as K-pop boy bands, fanfiction, and “mukbang” Youtube videos, Kat JK Lee creates their own canon of Korean-American Speculative Fiction in a process that directly confronts the accusations of derivativeness in South Korea’s fledgling sci-fi literary scene. This “creation-by-inference” method parallels Kat’s patchwork navigation of their racial and ethnic identity, where in every state, they find themselves as, at least partially, alien.

Kameron Neal shoots his own footage, but his videos denature completely the expected product of these filmings. Glitchy and often tongue-in-cheek, Kameron’s pieces highlight the frame as the primary unit of measure and splice the original shots in such a way as to antagonize his own material.

In Hannah Lutz Winkler’s paintings, art canvas and recycled fabrics occupy the same space in seeming disregard of their constructed differences. However, the intent is not to “elevate” the found scraps and old T-shirts. Rather, the presence of these fabrics recalls the physical intimacy and attachment humans have to textures/textiles and asks for a second look, a reconsideration, of the painting itself and painting as a form.

SOURCE MATERIALS endeavors to expand the edges of “composition” with work that showcases the histories of its components as much as the final art object; it seeks an engagement that arises from entering a dialogue as a player instead of a judge.

Towards an Authentic, Diverse Theater

There is a fundamental disconnect between the future of the theater field and the way it is being discussed currently. The industry has only recently taken up arms to address problems of exclusion as it pertains to women and people of color on stage (it would be naïve to not attribute some of this awareness to the extreme financial and artistic success of Hamilton, a show that is unapologetically not white). Efforts such as The List by The Kilroys are a step forward in the inclusion of women. Audiences are demanding accountability for theaters producing exclusively white works. The battle cries of the silenced are now difficult to ignore. Still, we are approaching the issue in fragments, and because of this we are still operating under a white hegemony.

Due to current industry structure, we as people of color require recognition, programming, and support by producers and organizations that are overwhelmingly white. This discrepancy has undeniable repercussions on our art. We are asked to make art in a market that is rooted in a Eurocentric history that does not allow for expressions outside of its conventions. As such, our narratives are still being filtered through the storytelling conventions of whiteness. In trying to be seen, are we compromising our own histories and rituals?

This issue is further fueled by the dearth of critics of color. In the rare instances where we are able to produce without compromising ourselves, we are critiqued by those who are still deeply imbedded in white societal norms. We are judged by those who have very little understanding of our narrative practices. When the ritual of a piece is built on, say,  an Afrocentric tradition, it runs the risk of getting a bad review. In the system under which we work, we are yet again looking for the approval of a white majority to validate (read: bolster our financial and artistic success) us.

In order to allow the full breadth of humanity onto the stage, we need to do more than simply present and feature the work of artists of color. We must give voices of color a platform from which to tell their own stories, in their own voices. We have to allow for criticism of work by an array of opinions to allow for all approaches to exist in homology. To further Audre Lorde’s claim, not only do we need to recognize that “the master’s house [will] not be dismantled by the master’s tools,” but we must also stop looking to gain boarding in the house entirely and instead build a new one—one whose door is equally open to everyone and whose foundation is made stronger by the diversity of material.  

Codify Happy Hour: You're Invited!

Hi from all of us at Codify Art! 

Whether we're old friends or just now shaking hands, as a refresher, we are: A Brooklyn-based collective of multidisciplinary artists committed to creating, producing, and showcasing work that foregrounds the voices of people of color, particularly those of women and queer people of color.

Okay, moving on from small talk:

YOU'RE INVITED TO CODIFY HAPPY HOUR!

Before we launch into everything we have planned for 2016, we want to meet you and want you to meet us. This casual, after-work mixer is an opportunity to match some faces to names and to mingle with emerging artists and creative professionals. There'll be a short presentation at 7PM and happy hour specials throughout.

Date: February 16, 2016
Time: 6-8:30 PM
Venue: Bo's 6 West 24th Street
New York, NY

Located between 5th and 6th Avenues by Madison Square Park
Subway: Take the N, R, 1, 6, or F to 23rd Street

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RSVP for Codify Happy Hour

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Hope to see you at happy hour, and keep an eye out for announcements about our upcoming events!

2015 YEAR IN REVIEW + BLOG LAUNCH

Happy 2016 from Codify Art (and happy belated MLK day, at this point)! In the spirit of #NewYearNewMe, we're rolling out our #NewBlog with some highlights from our past year. After all, you can't have the "new" without the "old."

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YELLOW PERIL BLACK POWER

YELLOW PERIL BLACK POWER was a series of firsts—the first visual art show produced by Codify, the first public viewing of Bau Haus (a live/work studio cum community arts venue comprised of/run by Codify members Jarrett Key and Kat JK Lee), and the first presentation of Jarrett Key's "I AM AIN'T I" painting series.

As the title may suggest, YELLOW PERIL BLACK POWER was an unapologetic reclamation of racial identity, colored by the ways Jarrett and Kat, by virtue of their existence as black and Asian artists [people], threaten and are threatened by their frictive relationship to White America.

ABOUT FACE

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About Face was Codify's second art show with Bau Haus, this time with the inclusion of team member Jonathan Key. In addition to featuring new work by the Bau Haus cohort, About Face showcased Jonathan's 12, a series of 12 collages created over 12 days.

The theme of About Face was two-fold, the first literally being "about face," as many of the pieces were portraits. However, the personal history and narratives explored in the work spoke to "about face" as in "turn around," or even as in "losing face"—a look back at the forces that shaped us and a 360-degree exploration of the visages encountered through multiple layers of performance.

WE ARE BULLET PROOF

We Are Bullet Proof is a manifesto as much as a project, offering a narrative of strength amidst the struggle and vulnerability of the Black Lives Matter movement. Jonathan Key headed this initiative in collaboration with Codify to create a series of posters and hoodies. In them is a message of empowerment and solidarity, and with all proceeds going to support Black Lives Matter organizations, We Are Bullet Proof is a call to action couched in a long history of protest design. For more information, read Jon's feature on ADC Global and visit the WE ARE BULLET PROOF website.

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CODIFY+

In addition to our work as a collective, we want to highlight some individual projects undertaken by our team in 2015 as part of our mission to foreground work by creators of color.

JONATHAN KEY

Jonathan Key's Personal Narrative and Heritage Portraits books were included in Yale University's Odds and Ends Art Book Fair. Of Personal Narrative, Jon says, "I want to investigate the ways people and myself carry the remnants of our pasts, cultures, and identity and how these ideas perpetuate through the way we talk, move, and think about ourselves." Heritage Portraits is a collection of individual and unique stories about the influence of family, home, race, and orientation, and an investigation of how we perform these aspects of identity in our daily lives.

Day 10: Our 3 day #graphicdesign #workshop is over!! Look at my students!!!! #seniors #thesis #Lebanon #american #university #LAU #Lebanon #Byblos #typetalks #blackinbeirut #teacher #design #designstudents with @waelmorcos

"Day 10: Our 3 day #graphicdesign #workshop is over!! Look at my students!!!! #seniors #thesis #Lebanon #american #university #LAU #Lebanon #Byblos..."

Jon was also invited to teach at two different workshops with graphic designer Wael Morcos. The first was a Type Workshop at the Children's Museum of the Arts during its annual Spring Benefit: a fun-filled day of collaborative art-making between children and art professionals. The children—aged three to nine—were asked to interpret the work of Henri Matisse and Franz Kline using paint or letter cutouts. The results were then collected and digitized into two working typefaces: one for Matisse and another for Kline. These fonts were then gifted to the museum for use by participating children and CMA's marketing materials.

Jon and Wael then traveled to Beirut to hold a 3 day Graphic Design Workshop at the Lebanese American University. Working with LAU's Graphic Design Senior Class, the two helped students develop the visual storytelling for their thesis design projects. Topics ranged from the Syrian Refugee crisis to identities focusing on wellness and spirituality.

LEANDRO ZANETI

Leandro Zaneti worked as a producer for The Broken Record, a play written by Jonathan Louis Dent and directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian for the 2015 New York International Fringe Festival. Set in present day New York City, The Broken Record grapples with the relationship between police and young black men, and as a well-reviewed piece, offers a point-of-entry into conversations around police brutality.

Leandro also returned to produce for Studio 42's Unproducible Smackdown for the second time. For the Smackdown, the authors are given a list of "ingredients" to work into each script, and after 1-2 rehearsals, all plays go up in a night of boozy fun where a winner is crowned! Leandro's piece was titled STAR TRIPS! by Adam Szymkowicz and directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh.

CHANTEL WHITTLE

FIND YOUR BAE CABARET was a night of love songs produced by Chantel Whittle in the intimate space above La Luz in Brooklyn. In Chantel's own words, the goal "was to explore the joys and complications of love, particularly infidelity, all while singing some of my favorite love songs." Chantel performed as lead female vocalist alongside Ben Freeman (male vocalist + pianist), Annie Kocher (supportive vocalist), Danielle Deluty (bassist), Daniel Friedman (guitarist), and Natan Last (drummer).

JARRETT KEY

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Beyond the two Codify-produced Bau Haus shows, Jarrett Key has presented his "I AM AIN'T I" series at the Artists Against Police Violence show at the EMW Bookstore in Cambridge, MA and at MATTERING: An Arts Forum at NYU. Artists Against Police Violence was the first exhibition put up by the organization of the same name; it was curated through a national open call for artists to rise up against anti-Black police violence, in urgent response to the numerous protests erupting in Ferguson and across America. MATTERING was presented by the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue (IACD) and their Founding Director Anna Deavere Smith. The two-day forum explored what effect the Black Lives matter and All Lives matter movements had on artistic imaginations and highlighted developing works that considered race relations in America.

Jarrett also performed in two plays: Delilah (What is Love? Baby Don't Hurt Me), presented as part of the 2015 HOT! Festival at Dixon Place, and FOXTROT FOXTROT WHISKEY, a new algorithmic performance at CPR-Center for Performance Research.

KAT JK LEE

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Kat JK Lee was featured in November's issue of Playbill as part of an interview with Hamilton star Leslie Odom, Jr. Earlier in the year, Kat had donated portraits of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, as portrayed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom, Jr., to the Public Theater to present to the actors as closing night gifts before Hamilton's move to Broadway. Their illustration is now hanging in Odom, Jr.'s Broadway dressing room.