Contemporary art gallery marks first anniversary during Black Card Abstracted exhibition

One year ago, co-owners Ra-Twoine “Rosetta” Fields, Lead Curator, and Aleyah Grimes, Programs Lead and Curatorial Assistant, opened Southside Contemporary Art Gallery (SCAG) at 1309 Hull Street in the historic Blackwell neighborhood.

After years collaborating in the arts community, Fields, Jersey City, NJ native and arts curator with ties in NY/NJ, Washington DC, Miami and Richmond, reconnected with Grimes, figurative painter & fiber artist, VCUarts alum and Richmond native, to partner on running the new contemporary, commercial art gallery.

Centered on an ethos of exposure and accessibility of fine art, Southside Contemporary offers the community space to consume art by emerging local and regional artists in various ways—offering free admission for the majority of its exhibits, events and programming.

The current exhibit, Black Card Abstracted, is open January 19 – March 2, with a live artist talk on February 24, 5-9pm. The talk, led by Fields, welcomes exhibition artists from Richmond to Detroit in a special context to discuss varying elements of Blackness and multiculturalism, especially in art.

“Curating Black Card Abstracted was a three-year process from conceptualization,” says Fields. “I wrestled with concepts around what Black & Brown art is—and how it’s allowed to be processed and presented, especially in palatable culture.”

“The exhibit challenges concepts, limitations, constructs and biases that go into art for certain cultural groups,” Fields shared. “It strips away triggers that people seem to connect to specific groups of people. It forces you to see the work for itself and the artists—without those primers.”

Exhibition guests can view pieces by select artists: Dathan Kane, Huey Lightbody, India Solomon, Kelly U Johnson, Rain Spann, Rama Alfarekh, and Serron Green.

The closing reception for Black Card Abstracted will be March 1, 5-10pm at SCAG.

To get the latest on upcoming exhibits and events programming, sign up for SCAG’s newsletter or visit their Instagram.

Southside Contemporary Art Gallery (SCAG)
1309 Hull Street
Gallery Hours
Thursday-Saturday: 12-6pm
Tuesday-Wednesday: by private appointment