LXS JOVENES VIRTUAL EXHIBIT
VIRTUAL EXHIBIT FALL 2021
Lxs Jovenes Leadership Lab Virtual Art Exhibition of 2021 is a month-long leadership program where artists from 6th – 9th grade work on their artistic practices to intersect art and social justice. This fall session, our Jovenes artists chose to deepen their knowledge on racial justice, identity and social issues through art mediums such as digital art, mixed media and collage. The main overarching theme that surfaced during this student exhibition is clear, that we have not forgotten Black Lives Matter and that we still demand our society and systems to change.
Here are the artworks created by our Fall 2021 Lxs Jovenes Leadership Lab participants.
Wings
Jessica Saavedra Jaime, Merrill Middle School
Artist Statement: My artwork is a visual piece, I thought of Frida’s self portraits and decided to add her face on my artwork.Including butterflies, vibrant colors, and flowers. I chose Frida for my artwork because her art is very nostalgic and causes you to feel something. Frida’s artwork empowers women in the art industry (feminism) and is a huge influence for many artists. Frida flies like a butterfly.
George Floyd Memorial
Santino Cannone, Merril Middle School
Artist Statement: Welcome to the George Floyd Memorial, I am talking about what happened to George Floyd and what happened to him. He was kneed on the neck for over 9 minutes by the cops. His last words were “I can’t breathe” but the cops wouldn’t stop, he sadly passed at May 25, 2020.
Remember Me?
Haniia Malisha Jolanta Morrison, Compass Academy
No Artist Statement
Untitled
Viviana Cannone, Merril Middle School
Artist Statement:
My art is a mixed media piece made up of colored/textured paper and photographs. Some of the imagery is of the ones we lost to police brutality. My art is meant to represent BLM (black lives matter). My goal for this piece was to have people realize that police brutality is something not to take lightly but to take more seriously. I also made sure to add the names of some of the people we lost to police brutality.
Black Lives Matter
Genevieve Emma Garcia, East High School
Artist Statement:
Hello my name is Genevieve Garcia and I am a 14 year old who goes to East High School. I will be able to tell you about my artwork. How I would describe my artwork is that it was my first piece I have done with watercolor. I wanted to do something creative with really pretty colors such as purple, blue and dark pink in a mix that has a meaning. I created this artwork with paper, paint, and watercolors. The first thing I did was put water on paper to bleed the pigments together and then dab more water to mix all the colors together and to give it a multicolor look. I wanted to juxtapose a beautiful and colorful background with the message of “BLACK LIVES MATTER”. My main idea behind my artwork connects to social justice. The BLM movement started because black communities are not being treated right by our society, mainly by cops. I feel like there should be change and it should be now because all people are equal and we should keep it that way. My goal for this mixed media piece was to remember that black lives matter and that our systems are horribly messed up and we need to be doing something about it. Overall, I’m happy with how this piece came out and I want to create change with my piece. I want people to do better because BLACK LIVES MATTER.
