Zeph Farmby
Social Studies
September 7th, 2019 – October 5th, 2019
916 Bedford ave, Brooklyn
Social Studies
September 7th, 2019 – October 5th, 2019
916 Bedford ave, Brooklyn
WORKS
ABOUT
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The Bishop Gallery proudly presents Social Studies by Zeph Farmby, a multi-disciplinary artist with graffiti roots and great aspirations from South Side, Chicago. After its Brooklyn debut this month, the exhibition will travel in 2020 to Chicago, Washington D.C., and Osaka, Japan. Each City of the tour will unveil five new artworks exclusive to the series.
In Social Studies, Farmby imposes expressionist portraits of historical icons from the Civil Rights and Black Power era onto a popular ad campaign by Supreme, the ubiquitous streetwear and skater brand and The New York Post, the City’s daily newspaper. For city-based educators and activists, this exhibition provides a visual genealogy of the cultural and political revolutionaries that paved the way for current-day social activism. Throughout his 2017-18 tenure as the Artist-in-Residency at Artspace-New Haven, Farmby maintained a parallel practice as a studio artist and commercial graphic designer-illustrator. During this period, Farmby created a perfect mash-up of both. Drawing from the methods of hip-hop sampling and jazz quotations, Farmby repurposed the Post’s headline and newsprint as frame and canvas, and Supreme’s fire-engine-red box logo as a signifier. Farmby explains, “Each drawing compels us to see ourselves as supreme beings--not victims of society or its prejudices.” Farmby continues, “Social Studies is a reminder that even if we sprint through it, life is a marathon. Behold the majesty of our freedom fighters like Angela Davis and Huey P. Newton, and the beautiful genius of our artists like Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, and Curtis Mayfield. Our Black lives and even our deaths carry deep purpose, value, and meaning. If their lasting impact changed the whole world, then we can too. And we must.” Throughout the five boroughs, this particular N.Y. Post issue of August 13th, 2018 became an instant collectible. It sold out and then re-sold out at a much higher value than its original one-buck price tag. Brooklyn’s homegrown Bishop Gallery will showcase these very issues and Farmby’s original series that developed after that. “Zeph Farmby: Social Studies exhibition dates include September 7th to October 5th at The Bishop Gallery at 916 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11205. Hours and Contact: Saturdays, 12-7PM and by appointment; phone (917) 966-9467; bishoponbedford.com. Opening Exhibition Reception on Saturday, September 7th at 6 PM. Artist Gallery Talk with Zeph Farmby at 4PM and Launch Party for AMP- Artreprenuer Marketplace from 2 to 7 PM on Saturday, September 14th. “Zeph Farmby: Social Studies,” travels Chicago in Winter 2020, Washington D.C. in Summer 2020, and to The Red Museum at Osaka, Japan in Fall 2020, https://www.kenhamazaki.jp/. About Zeph Farmby is a multi-disciplined artist, activist, and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. Farmby began as a graffiti artist in Chicago and established a corresponding studio practice at The American Academy of Art in Chicago in painting, drawing, muralism, installation, apparel design, and graphic design. Selected as Artspace’s 2017-18 Artist-in-Residence, he has exhibited globally including mural projects in Haiti and Japan and has been collected, used and worn by Kayne West, Jay Z (Made in America Festival), Swizz Beatz, and Pharrell Williams. His artwork and apparel design have been featured on Complex Magazine, Hypebeast, XXL magazine, and Vice. For more information, visit zephfarmby.com. About The Bishop is a contemporary art gallery featuring emerging and established artists located in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn NY. Launched in 2012, The Bishop is an offspring of the Lamont Bishop Gallery in Washington DC. Born and raised in Bed-Stuy, owners Erwin John and Stevenson Dunn founded the gallery with the vision to use art as a vehicle to develop community, business, and access in the ever-changing borough. For more information, visit bishoponbedford.com. For more information, please contact phone (917) 966-9467. |