Interviews and Conversations

Interviews and Conversations

ArtAboveReality

ArtAboveReality
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Robert Blackburn
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Ruth G. Waddy
Identity Theft by Chukes: Episode Five - Father Time Directed and Produced by: Badir McCleary of ArtAboveReality Artwork by: Chukes Narrated by: Chukes The series focuses on the creation and collection of sculptures and paintings in the Identity Theft Collection by Chukes. Featuring over 65 works of art, Chukes walks us through, in detail, each piece that makes up the Identity Theft narrative and ambition. "This body of work is my creative voice. I have titled it, Identity Theft; Creations from a Social Consciousness. I began working on the majority of these pieces at the beginning of 2016 and some date earlier than that. I initially created this work as a protest toward the televised brutality and killings of Black people and people of color. These killings were not only happening in America but throughout the world. As I look back at my own history, as well as researching world history, I reflect on what I have been taught about myself and other darker-skinned people of the world. The work in this exhibit is my artistic representation of what happens when people or nations of people are stripped of their indigenous identity and re-taught a history that historically filters the truth and presents an incorrect version of past and present injustices. This filtered history, as I call it, is being used against us as a weapon of self-destruction. I firmly believe this inability to see value or substance in one’s skin color is a reflection of how people of color are seen today. I have changed my creative direction and my work no longer focuses on the hatred and ignorance of killing darker-skinned people. I now focus on the cause and effect of this senseless taking of people’s lives. Our existence on this planet depends on our perceptions of one another. An incorrect version of history should be viewed as a crime against humanity. The art in this exhibit is my truth and that truth must begin to be re-taught. As a Black man, I believe history is failing not only the Black race but also the human race. Black history is mainly being taught from the Black American slave narrative, which is only 5 percent of the 200,000 years of documented African history. Civilization began on the continent of Africa, but our history in America speaks little or nothing of this. Human existence is meaningless if we don’t know who we are, or where we come from. Not knowing one’s history or the incorrect history of other races is, in my opinion, a form of genocide. This type of ignorance has been utilized against people of color for far too long, and in many cases, has led to the annihilation of countless generations. Not understanding one’s place in life can easily corrupt a mind. This leads to self-hatred, which, in my opinion, has greater power than any manmade weapon of mass destruction. My way of making a change comes through my ART. This is a non-violent approach created to bring awareness, enhance our civilization, and help reclaim our identity." - Chukes
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - William Henry Johnson
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Nancy Elizabeth Prophet
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Merton Simpson
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Geoffrey Holder
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Valerie Maynard
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Tina Allen
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Don Hogan Charles
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Varnette P. Honeywood
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Frederick J. Brown
Identity Theft by Chukes: Episode Four - Royalty A.K.A The Dope Dealer Directed and Produced by: Badir McCleary of ArtAboveReality Artwork by: Chukes Narrated by: Chukes The series focuses on the creation and collection of sculptures and paintings in the Identity Theft Collection by Chukes. Featuring over 65 works of art, Chukes walks us through, in detail, each piece that makes up the Identity Theft narrative and ambition. "This body of work is my creative voice. I have titled it, Identity Theft; Creations from a Social Consciousness. I began working on the majority of these pieces at the beginning of 2016 and some date earlier than that. I initially created this work as a protest toward the televised brutality and killings of Black people and people of color. These killings were not only happening in America but throughout the world. As I look back at my own history, as well as researching world history, I reflect on what I have been taught about myself and other darker-skinned people of the world. The work in this exhibit is my artistic representation of what happens when people or nations of people are stripped of their indigenous identity and re-taught a history that historically filters the truth and presents an incorrect version of past and present injustices. This filtered history, as I call it, is being used against us as a weapon of self-destruction. I firmly believe this inability to see value or substance in one’s skin color is a reflection of how people of color are seen today. I have changed my creative direction and my work no longer focuses on the hatred and ignorance of killing darker-skinned people. I now focus on the cause and effect of this senseless taking of people’s lives. Our existence on this planet depends on our perceptions of one another. An incorrect version of history should be viewed as a crime against humanity. The art in this exhibit is my truth and that truth must begin to be re-taught. As a Black man, I believe history is failing not only the Black race but also the human race. Black history is mainly being taught from the Black American slave narrative, which is only 5 percent of the 200,000 years of documented African history. Civilization began on the continent of Africa, but our history in America speaks little or nothing of this. Human existence is meaningless if we don’t know who we are, or where we come from. Not knowing one’s history or the incorrect history of other races is, in my opinion, a form of genocide. This type of ignorance has been utilized against people of color for far too long, and in many cases, has led to the annihilation of countless generations. Not understanding one’s place in life can easily corrupt a mind. This leads to self-hatred, which, in my opinion, has greater power than any manmade weapon of mass destruction. My way of making a change comes through my ART. This is a non-violent approach created to bring awareness, enhance our civilization, and help reclaim our identity." - Chukes
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Arthur P. Bedou
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Gwendolyn Knight
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - John Woodrow Wilson
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Camille Billops
#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Herbert Gentry
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