Social Justice LGBTQIA Female African American Artist Impacting The World On Racism Recognized for her work: “Prevalent"
New York, NY - Charzette Torrence has been selected as one of nine female photographers to receive the Firecracker 2020 COVID-19 Grant. The UK based organization awarding the grant chose Torrence for her work “Prevalent” a social justice exhibit. Torrence identifies as an LGBTQIA artist and a native Detroiter who resides in New York, NY Harlem USA.
“Prevalent” is a mixed media photographic series that presents a powerful, beautiful, raw, and truthful look at systemic racism, police brutality, poverty, equal pay, and related issues. The issues has been newly sparked in the wake of the brutal police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta. Torrence’s artwork is particularly relevant in the current climate of worldwide protests led by the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
“The #BlackLivesMatter movement is shining a spotlight the racial bias that we as African American artists have endured for years,” said Torrence. “I strongly believe that the art world needs to instantly open up opportunities for black female artist and curators as these issues are amplified on a world stage. I hope this is a catalyst for the art arena to embrace more social justice art.”
“Prevalent” was shown at Art Basel in 2018 and 2019. The audience was actively engaged in every conversation with the artist about the issues in the exhibit and were interested in how to participate in making a change in their communities. Prevalent encourages the audience to interact emotionally, truthfully and reflectively about what’s happening in our world and make positive change for the future.
One day she hopes to exhibit with a symposium for the community, sell each piece, and donate a percentage of the proceeds to the #BlackLivesMatter movement. The “Prevalent” series are custom made diptych frames and take two to three months to complete. They are 46 x 21 inches long and are designed to grab viewers’ attention provokes dialogue about racism. “What impact does this information have on us and our environment? Where do we go from here? What is the change needed in the art world and our society,” asks Torrence. “I want the world to know that #BlackArtistMatters,” she said.
More Info on artist:
Twitter @CharzetteArt
Instagram@prevalent_photography_exhibit
Contact:
Charzette Torrence
