STANDARD STANDARD FEATURE: JARRETT KEY

Last but certainly not least in our SPRING / BREAK Art Show artist feature is our very own Jarrett Key.

Born and raised in Seale, Alabama, Jarrett Key is a multi-disciplinary artist who integrates movement, music, and heightened language in his work. Graduate of Brown University, he is currently the Assistant to the Associate Producer at the Public Theater and has produced, performed, and curated many art pieces and performances during his time in NYC. 

Jarrett's hairpainting 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. Each endeavor is a recorded dance-like performance, with a resulting hairpainting object. 

Hairpainting No 14 is set to a score of Jarrett interviewing family members about his late grandmother. They discussed what was she like, what she wore, her daily rituals. These memories combined with a set of 4-5 choreographed movements birth the full performance. The deliberate use of Black hair - an intensely charged symbol of respectability politics, workplace discrimination, and beauty standards - as the mark-making tool is key in the series. It underscores the personal and political nature of Jarrett's work. 

Stop by 4 Times Sq, Fl 23, Room 24 to see the beautiful and arresting work of Jarrett Key. We'll be there today and tomorrow from 11am - 6pm.

STANDARD STANDARD FEATURE: YVES-OLIVIER MANDEREAU

Today we're featuring Yves-Olivier Mandereau from our SPRING / BREAK Art Show exhibition STANDARD STANDARD. We're lucky to have Yves-Olivier in New York for this exhibition, so be sure to swing by room 2324 from 11am-6pm daily through March 6 to say hey!

A native San Franciscan, Yves-Olivier quickly became fascinated by clay's materiality and historical significance. This was seed that later grew into his project "Porncelain," a reappropriation of fine china as a means of confrontation and conversation between tenets of ‘the christian home’ and his queer identity. Yves-Olivier subverts these classic heirlooms and claims them as his own by inserting floral-like images of gay pornography. 

Yves-Olivier purposefully uses ‘found’ chinaware in order to broaden the discussion beyond his own sexuality. He invites the viewer to contemplate homosexuality and its oppressors at the hallowed hearth of Family—the dinner table. Yves-Olivier complicates the traditional narrative of familial inheritance by shining a spotlight on the queer community's absence of a formal transference of material culture. As queer people are often pushed to create their own Chosen Families, the viewer is forced to confront what inheritance looks like outside of a heteronormative structure.  

We're thrilled to have Yves-Olivier's elegant and provoking "Porncelain" pieces in STANDARD STANDARD. We hope to see you at 4 Times Sq soon!

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!