March Artist Spotlight: Shanequa Gay

Contemporary artist Shanequa Gay is a native of Atlanta, Georgia where she continues to live and work. Widely acclaimed for her paintings and illustrations, Shanequa has also received accolades for her advocacy of projects that challenge the violence and injustices committed against the black body in America and across the globe. Her current body of work integrates imagery of the black body into paintings, toile schema, found objects, and video media, addressing its use and control for decorative purposes. Shanequaʼs art is regularly featured in exhibitions by museums and galleries throughout the U.S. including the Chattanooga African American Museum, the Hammonds House. The museum, Emory University, Wofford College and the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. Her works are collected by individuals with notable collections such as Samuel L. Jackson and held by the public and private institutions.

Among her honors, Shanequa boasts of selection by The Congressional Club to serve as the illustrator of the hostess gift presented at the First Ladyʼs Luncheon by Michelle Obama, 2013. She is also the recipient of an Independent Study Fellowship, Iwakuni, Japan and the Gene Arthur Allcott Scholarship, the Glenda Knight Keyes Prize for Outstanding Talent and the Artistic Honors Scholarship presented by the Savannah College of Art and Design. Additionally, her work is featured in the film and television industry including the Lionʼs Gate film production Addicted, the BET television series Being Mary Jane, Zoe Ever After and the OWN series Greenleaf. Shanequa holds a BFA in Painting from the Savannah College of Art Design (2015) and is currently a candidate for an MFA at Georgia State University.

ARTIST STATEMENT It is human nature to explain things we cannot understand and to create imaginary macrocosms to help cope with the realities of this world. Inspired by African and Greek mythology and narratives, the human, animal, and spirit world collide to mourn, mediate, and at times to wage war. Through a combination of consensual and forced realities, folklore, dream, tradition and the afterlife, Gay explores the historical and contemporary social concerns of black culture to teach lessons about morality, society, identity, and human function. Currently, her work explores the tensions found within systemic codes in which the black body -hunted, sexualized, feared, imprisoned - is also seen as a symbol of grandeur. Welding deeply political statements and integrating imagery from the black body into toile schema found objects, and media, Gay addresses the use of the black body and the control of that body for decorative purposes.See more of the artist's work on IG @shanequagay and on her website: www.shanequagay.com