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damali ayo

living flag (or Panhandling for Reparations) STATEMENT:

October 29th 2003, Harlem, New York --Following her exhibition of flesh tone paintings and video entitled, "blacklight" and "white men kill" at GALLERY M in Harlem this summer, Seattle artist damali ayo will panhandle for reparations for African-Americans' unpaid labor during slavery. This performance is called "living flag", and will take place in front of Xukuma (a Harlem gift store), the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Limited edition photographic prints and DVDs will be made available through Roulette Fine Art. A gallery talk with the artist will take place at 7PM on Wednesday, October 29th, 2003 at GALLERY M located at 123 West 135th Street between Lenox Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard. This event is free.

From 10AM until 4PM on Wednesday, October 29th, damali ayo will sit and stand in front of major New York museums and a Harlem gift store with duct tape over her mouth holding a can that reads "Reparations". Persons who give money to ayo's as she panhandles for the unpaid labor of African-American slaves will receive a receipt to send in to the IRS. At 7PM, the artist will talk to curator and museum docent Jennifer Farrell in a Q & A session at GALLERY M.

ayo's performance in New York City is the next to last stop of a four city art extravaganza. playback, her latest work shown at Mark Woolley gallery in Seattle featured an audio and mirror installation which guided viewers through a maze of telephone instructions. Viewers pushed specific numbers based on their race while looking at themselves in the mirrored room. ayo's work ranges from conceptual and environmental pieces such as her blank paintings of shades of browns (the artist's own skin color) on found board, to work about femaleness where she uses women's used panties and underslips with text. Other work by ayo includes "greeting" cards executed in a syrupy, over-commercialized and over-sentimentalized tone and colors. One card reads, "I'm Sorry" at the top and goes on in a visually pleasing script in the voice of someone apologizing for not being sensitive to a person of color. The soothing yellows and blues unwittingly catch the reader off guard to read more while being confronted with addressing the issue of racism. "living flag" is typical of ayo's signature blend of saying something, but mostly allowing the viewer to talk and make the meaning up for themselves.

*New York living flag performances and artists talk are sponsored by Roulette Fine Art.