Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 3-24-17

Local
Illsol Space Gallery’s 1st Show To Feature 20 Artists
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Yvonne Ferguson, 30, was a teenager when she first picked up a paintbrush.
Over the years, Fergu- son’s love for her craft has ebbed and flowed. At some point during high school, she stopped painting and didn’t return to it until she entered Virginia Wesleyan Univer- sity, where she studied art and art history.
The reunion was short- lived; Ferguson dropped out of college and soon after stopped painting.
But two years ago, Fer- guson felt the urge to return to the canvas after searching for artwork of prominent African-Americans and com- ing up empty.
“There was no Malcolm X, no Angela Davis,” she said. “I figured that since I could paint and draw, I’d make my own art.”
Today, Ferguson paints full-time and will feature her unique portraits at her first gallery appearance tonight at Illsol Space’s showing, titled “Get It Together.”
It’s the first show for the gallery, which husband-and- wife team, Michelle Sawyer and Tony Krol opened last month in Tampa Heights.
Ferguson, who lives in Gainesville, is among more than 20 artists whose works will be exhibited.
Sawyer said she wanted a diverse slate of artists – in- cluding women and minori- ties – to spotlight for the gallery’s first show.
A full-time muralist, Sawyer said she was dis- mayed at the lack of diversity in art shows.
“That’s something that I want to change,” she said. “I don’t want the same group of people or feel at every event.”
Ferguson’s portraits are edgy and colorful works of well-known Black heroes like Martin Luther King, Jr., and music legends like Andre 3000 and Bob Marley.
Ferguson – a native of Fort Walton Beach – initially painted for her own enjoy- ment, but friends soon began commissioning her work.
Nowadays, she’s working on a collection titled “Black God Series” that will feature por- traits of Black philosophers, revolutionaries, and academ- ics.
So far, Ferguson has painted hip-hop stars like Kid Cudi, Frank Ocean, and J. Cole. Kathleen Cleaver and Marcus Gar-
vey are among the other per- sonalities that will be added to the collection.
Ferguson said she hopes the series will encourage more African-Americans to invest in art that reflects them and their experiences and so that they could “see the God in ourselves.”
“If we could have artwork
that looked like us...it would shift self-perception,” she said.
Ferguson admits she struggles still with the cre- ative process, but she doesn’t expect to stop creating any- time soon, thanks to “mil- lions of movers and shakers” in the Black community that she can paint.
“I feel like we’re fortunate to have the type of culture we have as Black people,” she said. “There’s so much inspi- ration.”
If You Go
The Illsol Space will host its first showing, “Get It To- gether” from 6 to 11 p. m. Fri- day, March 24, at 2744 N. Florida Ave., in Tampa. Ad- mission is free.
For more information about the gallery, visit www.illsol.com. For more in- formation about Yvonne Ferguson, visit www.dia- sporicpigments.bigcartel.co m.
Art by Yvonne Ferguson
FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 7-A