Chor Boogie's Political Multimedia Works Set for AMERICAN BANNED Exhibition

Miami, FL - We are the witnesses and actors within a crucial time in American history, at a crossroads of the concluding chapter of the first black presidency and the audacity of dreaming of social justice and equality versus the counter-reactionary of a demagogue candidate for president that openly promotes bigotry and violence.

Three renowned contemporary artists, Chor Boogie, Stuart Sheldon, and Ashley Reid, present uncompromising visual political and social commentary in American Banned. Essentially nonpartisan, the collective body of work provokes political discourse, spurs citizens to participate in the political process, and examines systemic violence, racism, and oppression.

"We don't have to debate whether art should be political- it always is." - Dickon Stone

Art is now understood as the way in which an artist responds to reality. It provides the artist with a means to relate social commentary in a profound (and often extremely subtle) way, and it opens the floor for debate, philosophy, critique and inspiration.

Select works from American Banned will be exhibited November 29th - December 4th at Scope Miami Beach 2016, in conjuction with Art Basel Maimi, North America's foremost international modern and contemporary art fair, bringing a rare and vital political element to the annual festivities.

Chor Boogie, one of the world's foremost masters of the spray paint medium, will premier a series of original paintings, prints, and multimedia works: In God We Trust.

Stuart Sheldon will showcase a new series of artwork I'm with the Banned, an ensemble of intricate works of mixed media on canvas and paper, featuring strong shapes and piercing political statements. Mediums include acrylic, vinyl, oil crayon, gunpowder, glass bottles, spray paint, found objects, shredded pay stubs, and the artist's own blood. Sheldon will also feature an installation and limited edition video addressing violence in society with first grade chairs, bullets, and chain.

Ashley Reid presents White Power, a passionately, anarchistic photographic and performance representation of social and authoritative culture; what the artist has perceived as the zeitgeist of this generation. With a perspective that is both critical, loving and transgressive in its kitschy approach, subjects of instant gratification, protest, police brutality, appropriation, empathy, and accountability are questioned visually through self-portraiture and her community. Performance self-portrait Privileged, Please Help presents a white man who is sitting and acting as a homeless man, but is asking for help in being privileged as opposed to being disenfranchised.

American Banned: an art exhibition featuring...
Solo Show: Chor Boogie, Paintings, Prints, & Multimedia Works: In God We Trust
Solo Show: Stuart Sheldon, Paintings, Video, & Installation: I'm With The Banned
Featuring: Ashley Reid, Select Photographs & Live Performance: White Power

Chor Boogie, a.k.a. Joaquin Lamar Hailey, is a critically acclaimed spray paint artist. He was recently honored by Société Perrier as being number three among the Top Ten U.S. Street Artists. His visionary murals and art exhibitions have appeared all over the globe including venues such as the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the Smithsonian, Museum of Public Arts in Baton Rouge, Museum of Art Puerto Rico, the LA Art Fair, Torrance Art Museum in Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, Museum of Man in San Diego, San Diego Museum of Art, Children's Museum in San Diego, Syracuse University Museum, and the Vision Arts Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. In October 2010, Chor Boogie's "The Eyes of the Berlin Wall", sold for 500,000 euro, making history for the street art genre. His politically charged series "The Divided States of America," commissioned by the entrepreneur Nirmal Mulye, was first exhibited in 2012 in conjunction with the Democratic National Convention at the Elder Gallery. Clients include Google, Playboy, the Ritz Carlton, MTV Arabia, Anthony Robbins, Heineken, the Blackstone Group, Zazzle.com, Rock the Bells, and the TJ Martell Foundation. His portraits have been commissioned by celebrities such as Hugh Hefner, Jay Z, the artist formerly known as Prince, Lady Sovereign, Wu-Tang Clan, Rage Against the Machine, and N.W.A. He is recognized for having achieved a groundbreaking level of technical and emotional virtuosity in the medium of spray paint. He approaches his use of color as a form of therapy and visual medicine, and has been dubbed "the color shaman" by comrades and fans. Visit www.chorboogie.com, or find him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/chorboogie01 and Instagram: www.instagram.com/chorboogie.

Stuart Sheldon is an author and self-taught artist whose solo shows and large-scale installations have been praised by The New Tropic Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, and Marin Magazine. His work is in international collections including: Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Peay Vineyards and the Kalish Family Foundation. For Art Basel 2015, Sheldon took control of a soon-to-be-demolished home in an affluent Miami neighborhood and created the highly acclaimed exhibition, Fancy Nasty, which the Miami New Times celebrated as Miami's Weirdest Place. His series, The Best Books Ever Written, which can currently be seen at the Miami Shores Public Library, was included in the 2015 Biennial at the Arts & Culture Center of Hollywood and featured in the Miami Herald as a "Pick of the Week" during Art Basel 2014. A former Sausalito houseboat denizen and native of Miami, Sheldon produces the 'Meet Your Makers' series with The New Tropic, where he sits down with local artistic talent to learn more about their process.
Sheldon writes the Family Matters column for the Biscayne Times. And he blogs about art, humor, fatherhood and life on his website. Go to www.stuartsheldon.com or follow him on Instagram at www.instagram.com/stuart_sheldon.

Fine Artist, Photographer, and Human Rights Activist, Ashley Reid is an artist's artist. Born in Oakland, CA and raised in Atlanta, Georgia as a daughter to the music industry, Ashley was no stranger to photo and music video sets. A regular feature of everyday life, Ashley often played "photo shoot" with her friends, and mixed and mingled with some of the entertainment's top brass, even before recognizing her own talent and passion for the arts. After moving to New York City to attend the School of Visual Arts, where she graduated with a BFA in 2005, Ashley's unconventional and deeply moving personal approach to image-making was embraced by The Nowhere Gallery of Contemporary Art in Milan, who immediately signed on to represent the then burgeoning artist and her work. In 2006, her first solo exhibition, Devastatingly Good Times, which featured self-portrait tableaux vivants, received wide critical acclaim and paved the way for her continued work in solo and group art shows worldwide. Solo exhibitions include WhitePower, Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta, GA, Devastatingly Good Times, Nowhere Gallery, Milan, Italy (2006, 2007), and Imitation of Life, Autoversion Limited, New York (2008). Selected Group exhibitions include United Black Girls, Rush Arts Gallery, New York (2007), Ridykeulous, Participant, Inc. New York (2006), and Bearings: The Female Figure, PS122 Gallery, New York. Visit www.ashleyreidphoto.com or find her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AshleyReidPhoto and Instagram: www.instagram.com/ashleyreidphoto.

Located in Wynwood's Miami Art District, Macaya Gallery is a contemporary art gallery, which endeavors to showcase artwork whereby an artist envisions and retorts to their own process to narrate social observations in a profound (and often extremely subtle) way. Opening the floor for debate, philosophy, critique and inspiration.

Macaya Gallery represents, promotes, and showcases world-renowned, mid-career, as well as emerging talent from the disciplines of art, design, and passionate manufacturing, with exhibits including paintings, photography, mixed media and sculpture.

In March 2016, the Miami New Times named the exterior mural at Macaya Gallery by artist Chor Boogie as "The Best Mural in Miami" and featured Macaya Gallery as 3rd of the "Top 10 Galleries in Miami."

Visit www.macayagallery.com for more information.

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