April Bey
April Bey
Table of Contents
About
Biography
Process
Notable Works, Themes, and Mediums
- Atlantica
- Made in Space
- Ovaries in Steel
- Divine/Venus
- Waiting to Excel
Equity in Collecting Program
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
Residencies
Awards and Scholarship
About
April Bey (born 1987) is a Bahamian American contemporary visual artist known for her interdisciplinary work, exploring themes such as social critique of American and Bahamian culture, generational theory, feminism, Afro-futurism, and much more. She is a tenured professor of Art at Glendale Community College.
Biography
Born and raised in Nassau on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas, April Bey now resides in Los Angeles, California. At five years old, she was teased for the colour of her hair at school. As a result, her father tried his best to explain racism to her, despite her being so young. To do this, he used alien stories as a metaphor for racial oppression, which Bey later used as inspiration for a series of artworks. However, growing up in the Caribbean, Bey was not exposed to much African American culture. When she moved to Indiana to finish school, she was forced to confront people’s preconceived notions about Blackness. In 2009, she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing from Ball State University. In 2014, Bey returned to school in California State University, Northridge and received her Master of Fine Arts in Painting. Before studying art, Bey was an Art Education major, until she realized that the rules (eg. no swearing, no triggering topics, etc.) would not allow her to do what she truly wanted. She later moved into adult education, where she still teaches at an art center and community college.
Process
According to Bey, she chooses to work on multiple pieces of work simultaneously as she has a habit of becoming burnt out and bored. More specifically, when she was in school, her mentor told her that doing this would help reduce the amount of unfinished work she would produce due to severe burn out.
Notable Works, Themes, and Mediums
Atlantica Bey’s artworks are often created through the lens of the fictional afrofuturist alien planet, Atlantica. Based on the alien stories her father used to tell her to illustrate racial oppression, Bey positions herself as an undercover alien from this planet—Atlantica—whose job is to observe earth. Through this perspective, Bey is able to reframe Blackness, re-imagining Black expression outside of white supremacy and colonial suffering. Bey's ongoing series, “Atlantica: The Gilded Region”, features her two-dimensional mixed media works and installations. Within this series, she integrates fur, glitter, vinyl, and woven textiles—materials emblematic of queerness—to construct icons inspired by real-life figures within her community. Moreover, Nassau tropical flora are used to depict how nature has always been an essential part of Black liberation.
Although many of Bey’s works incorporate themes of afrofuturism, she does not consider herself an Afrofuturist. She says, “I think where I deviate is in showing how prevalent technologies and creations can influence this future version of us. I focus on social media because it’s a tool my generation has used and is still using to occupy space—albeit virtual space—and create physical spaces for opportunities. I can be patient and wait for a future devoid of racism and hierarchies based on class, but I’m also capable of seeing current trends and instruments available now to accelerate the progress.”
Made in Space
Bey’s mixed media artwork incorporates a variety of materials, usually in connection with a theme. For instance, in her series “Made in Space”, she incorporates caulking, resin, wood, low quality sewing needles, thread and Hitarget wax fabric—which is not only produced in China but exclusively marketed to impoverished black women. This series aims to convey how technology, specifically social media, can encourage black women to build businesses and partake in STEM.
Ovaries of Steel
In this series, Bey collects and manipulates digital “memes, ones which stereotype femininity, to create paintings. Primarily created through caulking, this series first gained attention when the piece “Feminists, They’re Cute When They’re Angry” was installed in the Ricardo Montalbán Theatre in Hollywood for a feminist perspective show. Bey recalls both male and female audiences reacting positively to this piece, which she suggests is the collective resonance with the failure to address intersectional issues by white feminists, such as LGBTQIA+ rights, racism, etc.
Divine/Venus
When Bey first started at art school, she was introduced to the Venus of Willendorf in “Art History 101”. This was a pivotal moment for Bey, as she discovered she wanted to explore the themes and visuals present in the Venus of Willendorf. Taking inspiration, she began the “Divine/Venus” series with a portrait framing her mother as the figure in the Venus of Willendorf: both feminine and masculine.This body of work aims to depict the female figure, in contrast to the Venus of Willendorf which poses as a symbol for matriarchy. Through integrating different artworks into the figure of Venus, Bey challenges the idea that motherhood is all a woman is fit for.
Waiting to Excel
The “Waiting to Excel” series, established in 2003, started the tradition of celebrating transportation through unique travel destination posters. In her interpretation, Bey focused on themes of culture and innovation from within the local community, creating a poster which depicts the future through a Black cultural lens as well as a sci-fi lens. For Black History Month and Black Futures Month in 2021, Bey’s artwork was featured on Metro buses throughout LA County. Metro Art’s Through the Eyes of Artists poster series gave Bey the opportunity to envision Willowbrook, California through the lens of Afrofuturism and Afrosurrealism.
Equity in Collecting Program
In 2023, Bey introduced the Equity in Collecting Program, a pioneering initiative designed to foster accessibility and inclusivity for art enthusiasts from marginalized backgrounds. In partnership with Simon Lee Gallery, TERN Gallery, and Fragment Gallery, the program was unveiled on February 27, 2023, coinciding with the conclusion of Black History Month. This groundbreaking initiative aims to promote equity in art collecting by offering vouchers that drastically reduce artwork prices by 90%, thus granting collectors who lack access an opportunity to participate. Targeting groups and communities subjected to discrimination and exclusion due to unequal power dynamics across economic, political, social, and cultural spheres, the Equity in Collecting Program seeks to address systemic inequalities.
On October 20, 2023, Bey announced the second round of the Equity in Collecting Program. This time, there will be 3 galleries participating, including 193 Gallery, a new participant on the program displaying 12 available physical works during AKAA Art Fair for April Bey’s solo showcase.
Exhibitions
Bey’s work has been/is being held in the following locations:
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth
Mar 10. 2023-Jul 28. 2024
Surrealism And Us: Caribbean and African Diasporic Artists Since 1940
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston Salem
Nov 16. 2023-Mar 10. 2024
The Threads We Follow
Friends Indeed, Bayview
Jan 16. 2024-Feb 16. 2024
Cross Currents: Four One Nine
UTA Artist Space, Los Angeles
Oct 06. 2023-Nov 11. 2023
Elsewheres
Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center, Anaheim
Jun 17. 2023-Sep 03. 2023
Rooted
Smoca, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale
Mar 04. 2023-Aug 27. 2023
Language in Times of Miscommunication
San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, San Jose
May 12. 2023-Aug 20. 2023
Queer Threads
Gavlak Gallery, Los Angeles
Feb 11. 2023-Apr 29. 202
Think Pinker
Oct 31. 2020-Dec 12. 2020
Nasty Women
Eastern Projects, Los Angeles
Nov 19.2022-Mar 05. 2023
Adornment Artifact
Fragment Gallery, New York
Dec 09. 2022-Jan 13. 2023
A Room Full of Mirrors
Mar 24. 2022-Apr 30. 2022
Online: Louder Now
Alyce De Roulet Williamson Gallery, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena
Jul 07. 2022-Nov 23. 2022
Cantos of the Sibylline Sisterhood
Moah, Lancaster Museum of Art and History, Lancaster
May 14. 2022-Aug 21. 2022
Human Natures: Highlights from MOAH’s Permanent Collection
Jan 22. 2022-Apr 16. 2022
Activation
Aug 10. 2019-Oct 20. 2019
LA Painting: Five Year Survey
California African American Museum, Los Angeles
Mar 27. 2021-Jul 11. 2021
Sanctuary: Recent Acquisitions to the Permanent Collection
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art
Jul 17. 2021-Oct 24. 2021
She Says: Women, Words, and Power
Bermudez Projects, Cypress Avenue
May 29. 2021-Jun 26. 2021
This is Bermudez Projections: 10th Anniversary Celebration!
Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland
Oct 30. 2020-Jan 20, 2021
Online: Invocation Democracy
Blum, Los Angeles
Oct 30. 2020-Nov 14. 2020
Show Me the Signs
UPFOR, Portland
Jul 03. 2019-Aug 31. 2019
Dear Lucy
National Art Gallery of the Bahamas (NAGB), Nassau, The Bahamas
May 28. 2020-Sep 28. 2020
Floating Rib
Dec 13. 2018-Apr 07. 2019
National Exhibition 0: The Fruit and the Seed
Simões De Assis, São Paulo, Brazil
Sep 02. 2023-Oct 22. 2023
The Speed of Grace
Galerie Ernst Hilger (Dorotheergasse), Vienna, Austria
Apr 28. 2022-Jun 18. 2022
Terms of Endearment
Solo Exhibitions
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno Aug 26. 2023-Feb 04. 2024 April bey: Atlantica, The Gilda Region TERN Gallery Apr 21. 2022-May 28. 2022 April Bey: Colonial Swag Gavlak Gallery, Los Angeles Jan 15. 2022-Mar 05. 2022 April Bey: When You’re On Another Planet and They Just Fly California African American Museum, Los Angeles May 26. 2021-Jan 17. 2022 April bey: Atlantica, The Gilda Region UPFOR, Portland Sep 04.2020-Oct 31. 2020 April Bey: Welcome to Atlantica! Apr 15. 2020-May 16.2020 Online: April Bey: Welcome to Atlantica Coagula Curatorial, Los Angeles Feb 18. 2017-Apr 12. 2017 April bey: Comply Simon Lee Gallery, London, United Kingdom Sep 01. 2022-Oct 01. 2022 April bey: I Believe in Why I’m Here
Residencies
2020 Self-Help Graphics, Los Angeles, CA 2020 Fullerton College Artist in Residency, Fullerton, CA 2019 Center for Contemporary Printmaking Artist in Residence, Norwalk, CT 2019 Nkyinkyim za, Ada, Ghana 2018 The Current, Nassau, Bahamas 2018 In-Flux Artist Residency, Ghana, West Africa 2017 In-Flux Artist Residency, Bali, Dubai, Senegal, Morocco, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana 2017 CHALE WOTE, Jamestown, Ghana 2012 Can Serrat Artist in Residence, El Bruc, Spain
Awards and Scholarship
2020 Center for Cultural Innovation Artist Grant 2019 GCC Foundation Grant 2019 Student Equity Grant 2017 Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant Nominee 2015 Melvin Best Award 2015 Melvin Best Award 2014 CSUN Arts Council Award