EVERY LIFE IS UNIQUE, 1993 WEST HARLEM

I was very shiny in West Harlem. I was supervising artist on a city funded project at 134th St. and Amsterdam Ave. in 1993. Only four months for this incredible adventure. I learned that white people have an extra gene. A cruelty gene. About 2 months into the project on 134th street, my students wanted to know what I was. I said “white” but they wouldn’t go for that. Uh-nh. At the end of that day on the mural, 6 year old Anita told me that they had figured it out. I was a Puerto Rican who didn’t speak Spanish. I took this “crew” to a city pool to swim. I took this “crew” to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was missing that cruelty gene. I know someone who taught overseas who said her kids in the Indian Ocean told her the same thing! That mural we did is still there. That is a miracle. Over 30 years. There were bullet holes in that mural before that summer was over. It was a very rough neighborhood then. We worked together. Haitian, Domenica Republican, Puerto Rican, African American and I don’t know who else. About 30 kids, in all. A monument to working together. IT'S STILL THERE!!

SURREALISTIC FANTASY IN TWO PARTS

ALL OVER TOWN!

BIG MEDIUM ART TOUR - WEST SIDE

SURREALISTIC FANTASY IN TWO PARTS

Cannon Coffee Presents Melanie Hickerson & Luna Davis Surrealistic Fantasy in Two Parts Sept 29, 2024 – Feb 1, 2025 • Reception: Sat, Oct 12, 2024, 5-7pm Art 84 presents two exceptional artists in its Cannon Coffee art space: Melanie Hickerson, whose career in NYC and Austin spans decades and Luna Davis, an accomplished Austin artist early in her career. Both address the experience of life with its sweetness and trauma, Hickerson through painting metaphors in acrylic on canvas and Davis through mixed media ranging across acrylic sheeting, CRT TVs, video, stain glass, and sculpture. Although their media differ–one traditional, one new–their work shares a dreamlike quality and remembrance for things past, present, and future. Thus, our title Surrealistic Fantasy in Two Parts. Both artists have shown with Art 84 before, originally as teacher and protégé, and we are delighted to have them back together. Melanie Hickerson is an experienced artist who has art in the permanent collection of The University of Texas at San Antonio plus in many private collections around the world. She spent many years in Rome, New York City, and Austin as a working artist and teacher. Melanie’s paintings are well-constructed objects of heart, intellect, and skill and are metaphors in paint for breath and life. She explains “I’m painting my homage to miracles. There are these sweet bits to dilute the ferocity in life. Mother Earth, Mother Nature.” https://www.melaniehickerson.com/ Luna Davis is an interdisciplinary artist who works primarily in non-traditional media. In her words, “I create various nostalgic domestic installations and mixed-media pieces that are altered through the lens of not only my own personal experiences, but other traumatic, emotional, and heavy burdens that we as humans carry with us.” She also explores digital identity in the age of the internet. https://www.lunadavis.com/

My ART PASTED IN BROOKLYN!

The opening reception was packed. Lots of excitement. A poster of my artwork is pasted to a dumpster in Brooklyn and the exhibit is a HIT!

PAINTINGS AND ARTWORKS INSTALLED!!

There is still work to be done. It does look sophisticated and engaging. Luna Davis's very contemporary work along side my more traditional art supplies for make an object of thought.

at Cannon Coffee Presents Melanie Hickerson & Luna Davis Surrealistic Fantasy in Two Parts Sept 29, 2024 – Feb 1, 2025 • Reception: Sat, Oct 12, 2024, 5-7pm