‘Kenseth Armstead: Boulevard of African Monarchs’ in Harlem Extended Through October, 2021

 

 

 

Kenseth Armstead’s ‘Boulevard of African Monarchs’ in Harlem

NYC DOT Art Community Commission and The Marcus Garvey Park Alliance partnered to install a timely and pertinent new art installation in Harlem. Kenseth Armstead: Boulevard of African Monarchs arrived on 116th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard on August 13, 2020.

Casting magnificent shadows, Boulevard of African Monarchs by artist Kenseth Armstead

Known for his artistic connections between the transatlantic slave trade and the creative visions brought with them to this country, Armstead’s work is best described in his artist statement referencing his long-term series, Farther Land, “…..recent work explores the African-American experience inside the American Revolution. Farther Land symbolically reflects on 10 years of the artist’s research on the true story of slave turned double-agent spy James Armistead Lafayette. The founders’ high ideals and the penalty for deviation from them are both reshaped as objects that relate this point of view. The series responds to the age of revolution and the founders’ declaration that “all men are created equal” with irony and suggestive material content.”

In Armstead’s new installation, Boulevard of African Monarchs, the patterns are taken from the wall paintings of Tiébélé, Burkina Faso, the royal court of the Kassena People, where every home is hand-painted. The two-dimensional paint marks are transformed into three-dimensional, freestanding, shapes. Boulevard of African Monarchs is meant to remind the viewers of Harlem’s proud legacy of creativity ~ a shared identity before the transatlantic slave trade ~ many of its inhabitants having brought this spirit and creativity with them to these Shores. It is their shared human story.

Installation day for ‘Boulevard of African Monarchs’ by artist Kenseth Armstead in Harlem ~ notice the different patina’s, blended and created by the artist

The 10′ x 10′ x 15′ sculpture transforms traditional Tiebele house paintings by women artists, a tradition that predates the triangular transatlantic slave trade, into an open freestanding sculpture where the public can gather, journey and connect. Boulevard of African Monarchs is the first sculpture in Armstead’s Sankofa_ Series.

Getting a little help from his very artistic friends, Kenseth Armstead standing with Klaudia Ofwona Draber, Curator at Koda Lab.

The works celebrate Africans and their diaspora, proclaiming Black Lives Matter in three dimensions. Sankofa_honors, in monumental form, “Sankofa” a word in the Twi language that means “go back and get it.”

The installation ‘Boulevard of African Monarchs’ with the artist, Kenseth Armstead standing in the background with fellow artist, Capucine Bourcart during the installation on 7th Avenue at 116th Street in Harlem

Best said by the artist, Armstead “tirelessly works to explore difficult terrain, new histories, complex identities and nuanced subjects with art ~ works that seek to create beauty out of the connection to, and honoring of, the invisible and forgotten in American Culture.”

Watching the installation, local artist Capucine Bourcart & Connie Lee, Curator/Director, Living with Art Salon + Art Lives Here; Director, Public Art Initiative and President of the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance, curating Boulevard of African Monarchs at this site in Harlem.

“My parents met and fell in love at Ephesus SDA church in Harlem in 1957,” said Armstead. “Like many Black migrants from the south, Harlem’s vibrant energy and creativity became their inspirational foundation toward achieving the American Dream. Boulevard of African Monarchs pays tribute to Harlem as a continuing symbolic cornerstone to so many Africans in America.”

Inviting pedestrians in, the open doorway offers a different perspective

The Harlem installation comes on the heals of Armstead’s artwork, True North: Every Negro is a Star, which was installed at Willoughby Square, City Point, Brooklyn, through February 6, 2020 by NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Percent for Art.

Installation, August 13, 2020 of Kenseth Armstead’s ‘Boulevard of Butterflies’ in Harlem

Kenseth Armstead: Boulevard of African Monarchs has been extended through October, 2021, located at the intersection of 116th Street, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd, and St. Nicholas Blvd. in Harlem.

Installation day for ‘Boulevard of African Monarchs’ by the artist Kenseth Armstead in Harlem

The installation is presented by NYC DOT Art Community Commission and The Marcus Garvey Park Alliance, Connie Lee, President of The Marcus Garvey Park Alliance, Director of Public Art Initiative, and Curator of Living with Art Salon. and Art Lives Here.

Artist Kenseth Armstead and Curator Connie LeeAbove, Boulevard of African Monarchs’ artist, Kenseth Armstead standing beside Curator, Connie Lee, pleased to see their year-long project finally going up!

The artwork was commissioned by NYC DOT in 2019. “I applied for the Community Commissions project to bring this opportunity to Harlem,” said Connie Lee, President of the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance and Director of their Public Art Initiative, “I’m grateful to DOT Art and the artist, Kenseth Armstead. Boulevard of African Monarchs speaks to the cultural significance of the surrounding neighborhood and the creative culture that Harlem is famous for.”

Facing north toward A. Philip Randolph Park and Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard ~ Boulevard of African Monarchs

Read more about the artist in his 2015 bio with Socrates Sculpture Garden for EAF15: 2015 ~ Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition.

Boulevard of African Monarchs by Kenseth Armstead in Harlem

Take a look-back at Kenseth Armstead: Washington 20/20/20 which was unveiled in Union Square Park in 2018 ~ and Master Work: Slaves of New York 1776 at BRIC as part of his ongoing Father Land project.

Follow the artist, Kenseth Armstead, on Instagram.

Follow the curator, Connie Lee of ‘Art Lives Here‘ at each of her current outdoor art installations that include ~ Susan Stair: Ascending the Mountain; Capucine Bourcart: Plastic Fantastic!; Zaq Landsberg: Reclining Liberty: Naomi Lawrence: Flowers of Turtle Island;  Julio Valdez: I Can’t Breathe: and Kenseth Armstead: Boulevard of African Monarchs.

About the curator: Connie Lee is the founder of Art Lives Here, a collaborative arts group that creates opportunities for under-recognized artists and provides access to art in communities that are often excluded by bringing quality art installations, exhibitions and performances to people where they live and work.