GENESIS BE

MY STATE FLAG

“Strange fruit hangs in the past and present. New slaves rot in cells. A symbol that glorifies the past of another, traumatizes the next. That’s my State Flag. ”
— Genesis be

GENESIS BE, MY STATE FLAG ACRYLIC, INK AND ROPE ON CANVAS, 14 X 18 IN, C.2017

 

People Not Things

In this conversation, Genesis Be explains People Not Things and what the meaning of the barriers in her paintings. This event took place at TAG Gallery in March 2019 and the exhibition included My State Flag.

“I am an activist because I am a hopeless romantic, I cannot hide my passions nor my pain. My concern for the disregard of the human condition overwhelms me as does the love, magic and wonders I witness in our World. My art is the vehicle through which I emote.”
— Genesis Be

Genesis Be is a Moral Courage Award winning, audio visual artist. artHYPE discovered that she was making paintings in 2018, when she spoke at the Neue House ...

About Genesis Be

Genesis Be debuts People Not Things in Los Angeles at Tag Gallery and The Bishop Gallery in Brooklyn on August 2nd - 17th. Editor J.Dathorne

Genesis Be is a critically acclaimed Hip Hop artist, painter and healer from Biloxi, MS. Her music catalog boasts seven original albums and her work has been featured in Billboard, Yahoo Music, LA Times, VICE and more. A graduate from NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, Be incorporates themes of social justice, sensuality and abstract minimalism in both her visual art pieces and her music. Her unique perspective explores and challenges our concepts of humanity, exploitation, race dynamics, queer identity and sensuality using multiple media.

Genesis Be won the Moral Courage Award for courageously campaigning to remove the Confederate symbol from the Mississippi Flag. Karen Sarrow of artHYPE met Genesis Be at the NeueHouse in Los Angeles.  Genesis Be was there speaking about a video that went viral when she protested the Confederate symbol in the Mississippi Flag. Over the next year, we planned and she created her first solo show. People Not Things opened in L.A. March 1st, 2019 at TAG Gallery on Wilshire Boulevard, TAG’s first Member Curatorial project.  The show included a biographical audio-visual projection about Genesis Be, by Rae Maxwell, abstract and figurative paintings, and wearables, all addressing the theme of People Not Things.  The large work we was created by Genesis at TAG Gallery during the installation. Her premiere solo art exhibit, People Not Things, debuted March 2019 in Los Angeles and travelled to Brooklyn’s Bishop Gallery, August 2-17, 2019. Since then, Genesis Be has been traveling around the U.S. registering people to Vote in 2020 with Vote Common Good.

 

PEOPLE NOT THINGS Solo Exhibition

 

Sensuality + Politics

Curator’s Statement

Genesis Be arrived at TAG with most of her paintings from New York and Atlanta. She is an emerging artist who has been painting about a year. Cataloging her work revealed what a confident and unique style she has developed. Her painting My State Flag encapsulates her conceptual message, and her painterly approach to the medium.

Genesis Be has a unique mark, a melodic staccato in black, that she applies to her increasingly abstract canvases, and this pattern also appears in a few of her figurative works. The marks symbolize the barriers between people. The miniature Jinn figures appear in her earliest work. Be’s art work includes more than political acumen, she also paints women with such love and passion that these paintings incorporate a sensual manifestation of her gregarious spirit. Nunchaku is wrapped in warm, yellow-gold hues of a Polynesian sunset, the chromatic palette in this work is masterful, and the soft treatment reveals a deep love for the sensual female as subject.

The day of the exhibit opening, Genesis Be installed 6 fuzzy brown pillows for her guests. They allowed people to sit and enjoy her audio-visual presentation in comfort. She has also presented soft sweatshirts and hoodies with her political work printed on them. These are available on Be’s website, peoplenotthings.com; one gentleman recently purchased 50 of her shirts to support her message, and the People Not Things exhibit. Many visitors have shown excitement about Be’s unique designs. Genesis Be’s work epitomizes the truths that politics is life, and art is life. The arts she makes are delivered with the sensuality of paint, desire, political awareness, music and film. -Wren Sarrow

Genesis Be - People Not Things - March 1 -26, 2019, TAG Gallery, 5458 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036

 
 

CONTACT US

artHYPE Foundation, 3950 Laurel Canyone Blvd #1470, Studio City, CA 91614

My State Flag by Genesis Be

 
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GENESIS BE, PEOPLE NOT THINGS, TAG GALLERY, LOS ANGELES, MARCH 1, 2019

GENESIS BE, PEOPLE NOT THINGS, TAG GALLERY, LOS ANGELES, MARCH 1, 2019

 

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