Seasoned creatives and newbies just getting their feet wet with art have a moment to shine in the Angad Arts Hotel 12 x 12 Bi-Annual Exhibition. It’s a close-to-home opportunity with artists required to live within 200 miles of St. Louis. The lone other requirement is that submissions must be on a piece, or pieces, 12 by 12 inches in length and width.
Vanessa Rudloff, Angad’s Arts relations manager, says its purpose is to not only fit as many of the smaller frames on one wall as possible, but also to give some artists the opportunity to showcase multiple works.
The exhibition opened in November 2022, and features 81 artists and 159 works. The work of nine African American artists is included.
Kenya Mitchell, 32, has been creating art since she was teenager. However, it wasn’t until 2020 that she decided to take her work more seriously and give it her all. This is her first time showcasing in an exhibition.
She has two works in the exhibit “Bad Math” and “Let It Flow.”
Mitchell said the inspiration for “Bad Math,” which displays dark and lightly shaded fists surrounded by deep red addition and subtraction signs on a light rouge background, came from her husband.
“My husband named it. I like the spin he put on it,” Mitchell said. “It’s about empowering people and turning the negatives in life into positives.”
“Let It Flow,” which spotlights varying darker hues of blue, her favorite color, and is inspired by her wanting to try something new in 2020.
“The piece is very tranquil,” she said. “In 2020 I was doing a lot of artwork and I said, ‘you know what, I wanna try something new’. I was just playing around.”
Martell Stepney has interests in breakdancing, stand-up poetry, hosting, event planning and podcasting, but for the last three years his focus has been photography.
His three photographic pieces are “Laugh About It” “Music Steps” and “Falling For It.”
“Falling For It” centers on his friend Nyara Williams, a freelance filmmaker and photographer, seated in the middle of Forest Park with a lens in hand.
“I wanted to showcase one of the best parks in the United States, and Nyara is one of my favorite creatives,” Stepney said.
“She is an amazing photographer, director, she does it all. She’s amazing, doing big things and about to do big things.”
Comedian Larry Greene is centerstage during his birthday show at Helium Comedy Club in “Laugh About It.”
“He is one of the funniest comedians coming out of St. Louis,” Stepney said. “I caught him while he was laughing at one of his own jokes. It’s good to see a Black man laughing and being carefree.”
“Music Steps” is named after a local dancer named Music. Stepney said the shot is of Music winning his first battle at The Big Top in Grand Arts Center District.
Taylor ‘Shmay’ Henderson‘s “Her Rage Is Creative” is a woman’s anatomy painted in gray and black tones going from light to dark on the same background color scheme.
“It was my quarantine angst project, I did catch COVID at a certain point and I was very upset,” Shmay said. “I was really angry and I made a piece about how even when I’m angry I’m gonna make something out of it. I’m gonna create something out of it, her rage is creative.”
Shmay has been a graphic designer for five years specializing in visual storytelling and 2-D animation.
Corry ‘Rotten Corr’ Rogers, former police turned full-time artist’s “Do Not Disturb” work is his first time exhibiting his art.
“Do Not Disturb” displays whimsical abstract elements including the body of a young Black boy with a retro TV in place of his face and a Black woman rocking in lavender with two different face structures—neon blue eyelashes and eyebrows, and a bubblegum pink mouth with cherry red polka dots.
“I left my career as a police officer in 2020 to pursue my dream of becoming a full-time artist, my wife was nine months pregnant at the time,” Rogers said.
“God has been making a way ever since. I’ve been doing art my whole life, I never took it seriously. Never thought I could make a living out of it.”
Lakayla Anderson’s “Happiness” shows a Black woman with an afro and a wide smile surrounded by the color orange with vibrant flower petals.
“I wanted to exude happiness in my piece,” Anderson said. “With everything being crazy now, I wanted to brighten up someone’s day.”
Anderson says he began his artistic career at 18 and has been marking it professionally for a couple years.
Lael ‘Lacey’ Clark’s “Microscopic Plot Twist: Geometric Petri Dish” is a combination of science and art.
“The big round disk represents a petri dish,” Lacey said. “If you’ve ever looked at a petri dish underneath a microscope you’ll see all particles moving around. If you look into the sky you need a telescope to see everything moving around. The petri dish has a universe inside of it, specifically one big huge diamond star. We can’t see small organisms with the naked eye but neither can we see things out in space.”
Clark gained an interest in art in high school, and she’s currently in graduate school for interior architecture and design.
Andrea Hughes has two works in the exhibit “Us” and “Hearth” both were designed using the mehndi henna method, a traditional Indian practice of temporary dye being painted on the body typically on hands.
“Hearth is inspired by old houses. I like old Victorian-style houses,” Hughes said. “Us is a picture of my bestie and I.”
Hughes specializes in portraits and mixed media art.
Collin Elliot’s “Destini (Double Exposure)” shows a cool portrait of his partner, who is currently pregnant with their first child.
“We are both artists, art is something that connects us both together,” Elliot said. “Having a piece in that space is really special. She had her work in the previous exhibit. It was a really cool experience to have back to back work as a couple.”
Elliot has been creating for ten years and specializes in visual art, graphic design and photography.
Tyler Small’s “Meditate” is a photograph of Alonzo Nelson Jr., co-founder of the yoga studio, The Collective STL in meditation. Nelson was also the first Black male teacher Small had in 8th grade.
“I think meditation is something we [Black men] should practice more,” Small said. “And in that practice, learning meditation can look different for you. It can be a walk, it can be exercise. I mainly practice mindfulness meditation. It helps me grow as a father and a man.”
Small has been doing art since 2011 and specializes in photo manipulation.
Angad’s 12 x 12 Bi-Annual exhibit happens twice a year in November and May. The current exhibit is on display until the end of April. Submissions open for the exhibit in May starts in March.
Those interested in displaying in either of the exhibits can email Rudloff at vanessa.rudloff@angadartshotel.com to be added to Angad’s mailing list and learn when submissions open. There is a three piece limit per artist.
“The Bi-annual is a beautiful community unifying moment,” Rudloff said. “I pride myself on getting this incredibly diverse crowd and giving an opportunity to people that aren’t always exhibiting. I don’t just have career artists or professionals or professors. I have artists that have never shown before in their lives. I have teachers, doctors, dentists, and all kinds of people in other professions.
All the work including the nine artists’ pieces are on sale now at www.shop.angadartshotel.com.
