Nicole Maurice Gbadamosi
Gallery Curator
"My deep and sincere desire was to open this exhibition with the people who aim high on honoring our ancestors as well as supporting our community."
Curator's Statement
I T A L L S T A R T E D ...a millennia before I tasted the sweet whiffs of air and before the sun kissed my newborn face. This show started on an ebony night in the cradle of mankind, Africa, at the pinnacle of greatness when kings and queens walked the earth with necks adorned with braids of gold and a rhythm that persisted in the land. This greatness and rhythm were transferred to the people who marched with determination and strength that endured the test of time.
A legacy was left to humankind on that ebony night, one that this artistic exhibition embodies and exemplifies. When we all begin to realize our mortality, we think of the legacy left to us and the legacy we want to leave for the future, one that is filled with hope, love, spirituality, and joy. All the artists chosen for this exhibition directly touches this premise; they paint, sculpt, build, and bend their art with the sole purpose of leaving a historical imprint that has deep inspiration from the African Diaspora.
When partnering with Priví Art Gallery, located in Stonecrest, Georgia, I quickly realized Vaughn Irons, CEO of APD Solutions, was building a legacy of his own. I imagine him standing in an empty 133,000 SQ ft. space, an empty canvas with no paint, rough in appearance and he began to dream and build that legacy in an artistic manner of his own. He visualized a center of excellence, one to serve the community that he lived in, and he executed that plan with the same determination as Mansa Musa of ancient Mali when he was building his vast empire all the while dipping his lands with the richest gold. The synergy was palpable, and the project took on a life of its own, one even I could not deny.
--Nicole Maurice Gbadamosi