Women of Visions
NYC Edition. Magnificent Motown!
Art Inspired by the Music
March 12 – April 30, 2022

Installation Photography : Christian Carone

Image Photography : Laylah Garcia

Press Release
Reception

NYC Edition. MAGNIFICENT MOTOWN!
Art Inspired by the Music

From March 12 through April 30, 2022, the Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba is pleased to present, Women of Visions, Magnificent Motown! Art inspired by the Music. The collection includes 28 pieces by artists from Pittsburgh, PA, paying homage to the Motown sound, by creating art, utilizing its catalog of globally famous and beloved song titles. The artists are members of WOV, Inc, the longest running visual arts organization of African-American women in the USA, who have also included artwork by men who are colleagues and friends of the nonprofit.

The majority of the artwork, completed during COVID-19 between 2020--2021, was part of an exhibition held at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, a performance space, which reopened during the pandemic by staging a live Motown revue in conjunction with the art exhibition, a first for the Pittsburgh venue.

 Former Motown Director, Smokey Robinson and his wife Frances Glandney, selected winners and awards as jurors for Smokey Robinson Wines, which is headquartered in Pittsburgh where the couple lives, part time. First place in the exhibition was Get Ready, inspired by the Temptations and created by artist, Marlon Gist. This work is included in the Kenkeleba exhibition.

Pittsburgh, has been a cultural epicenter for African-Americans since the turn of the century when it became one of the first cities in the country to produce a major black-owned newspaper, The Pittsburgh Courier. Pittsburgh also became a major stop from the 30’s to the 50’s on the “Chitlin Circuit,” towns on the east coast which showcased famous black artists and performers. And Pittsburgh has been home to many prestigious artists including Romare Bearden and Selma Burke; performance talents like Lena Horne and Betty Davis and jazz greats like Billy Strayhorn and George Benson.

WOV’s Magnificent Motown! exhibition is in fact, further evidence of the city’s deep dive into artistic pursuits magnifying the voices of Motown artists with work honoring recognizable classics, like Tammi Terrell’s Nowhere to Run, Nowhere Hide, done in a flurry of pastel paints by Pamela Cooper or Corey Carrington honoring Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On with a collage of war-bombed scenes, while Janet Watkins’ mosaic woman styled with telephone wire twists depicts: I Am Not My Hair, inspired by India Arie.

Magnificent Motown! Art Inspired by the Music, in partnership with Kenkeleba House, and the Arts, Equity, & Education Fund, is part of a 40th Anniversary series presented by Women of Visions, Inc., a Ford Foundation and Heinz Endowment Cultural Treasure. Womenofvisionspgh.org

Kenkeleba programs are made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council and many generous friends. The exhibit is supported by Advancing Black Art in Pittsburgh - Heinz Endowments.