April Bey
{{short description|American artist (b. 1987)}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = April Bey
| birth_date = 1987
| birth_place = Bahamas
| nationality = Bahamian American
| field = Contemporary visual art
| alma_mater =
- BFA, Ball State University (2009)
- MFA, California State University, Northridge (2014)
}}
April Bey (born 1987){{Cite web |last=Hosseinzadeh |first=Maryam |date=2021-02-08 |title=Celebrate Willowbrook through the eyes of artist April Bey |url=https://thesource.metro.net/2021/02/08/celebrate-willowbrook-through-the-eyes-of-artist-april-bey/ |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=The Source |language=en-US}} is a Bahamian American contemporary visual artist and educator. She is known for her mixed media work which creates commentary on contemporary Black female rhetoric.{{Cite web|url=https://blackartinamerica.com/index.php/2018/06/14/10-emerging-black-female-artists-to-collect/|title=10 Emerging Black Female Artists to Collect|last=Robinson|first=Shantay|date=2018-06-14|website=BLACK ART IN AMERICA™|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-03-31}}{{Cite web |last=Bochicchio |first=Sarah |date=September 15, 2022 |title=Thriving on Atlantica: April Bey & her Speculative Futurism |url=https://www.artandobject.com/news/thriving-atlantica-april-bey-her-speculative-futurism |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=ArtAndObject.com |language=en}}
Early life and education
April Bey grew up on the island New Providence in the Bahamas. She earned a BFA degree in drawing in 2009 from Ball State University, and an MFA in painting in 2014 at California State University, Northridge.{{Cite web |title=April Bey |url=https://virginiamoca.org/artist/april-bey/ |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=Virginia MOCA |language=en}}
Career
Bey's collage work intertwines a host of materials such as caulking, resin, wood and fabric.{{Cite web|url=https://artillerymag.com/april-bey-black-to-the-future/|title=April Bey: Black to the Future|last=Stevens|first=Anise|date=2018-05-02|website=Artillery Magazine|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-03-31}} Focusing on Black women, Bey captures passion and strength, power and sensuality in her work, which explores the resilience of women and the hypocrisy of societal expectations where women are concerned.{{Cite web|url=https://artandcakela.com/2017/03/26/april-bey-fierce-beauty-and-feminism/|title=April Bey: Fierce Beauty and Feminism|last=Davis|first=Genie|date=2017-03-26|website=Art and Cake|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-03-31}} Bey uses photographic images of Black female figures in contemporary culture such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Solange, Issa Rae, and Michaela Coel with text overlaid which speaks of the narratives Black women are currently creating about their identity. Her work has been exhibited at Band of Vices Gallery, Coagula Curatorial, Liquid Courage Gallery and Barnsdall Art Park's Municipal Art Gallery.{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/barnsdalls-skin-show-aest_b_9199808|title=Barnsdall's SKIN Show Aestheticizes the Politics of Race|last=Gleason|first=Mat|date=2016-02-10|website=HuffPost|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-03-31}}
She is a tenured professor in the department of studio arts at Glendale Community College.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Faculty & Staff, April Bey|url=https://www.glendale.edu/academics/academic-divisions/visual-performing-arts-division/studio-arts/faculty-staff/april-bey|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=11 August 2020|website=Glendale Community College}}
April Bey's first solo museum exhibition titled, Atlantica, The Gilda Region opened on May 26, 2021, in Los Angeles at the California African American Museum. It is an immersive installation that discusses Afrofuturism, queerness, feminism, and internet culture in Black America.{{Cite web |title=April Bey: Atlantica, The Gilda Region |url=https://caamuseum.org/exhibitions/2021/april-bey-atlantica-the-gilda-region |access-date=2021-06-27 |website=CAAM Museum |language=en}}
See also
Notes
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Category:21st-century African-American artists
Category:21st-century American women artists
Category:21st-century African-American women artists
Category:African-American women artists
Category:American collage artists
Category:American women collage artists
Category:Artists from Los Angeles
Category:American mixed-media artists
Category:21st-century American educators
Category:21st-century American women educators
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