OLTRE IL MURO: ARTE e FOTOGRAFIA: AYANA VELLISSIA JACKSON

sabato 17 marzo 2012

AYANA VELLISSIA JACKSON

Ayana Vellissia Jackson was born in Livingston, New Jersey and raised in East Orange where her family has long held residence. Her grandmother Angenetta Still Jackson, is descendant of Leah Arthur Jones a member of the founding family of New Jersey's first Black Settlement, Lawnside, New Jersey. Her grandfather J. Garfield Jackson was Essex County's first African American principle. The city of East Orange later named Jackson Academy elementary school after him. Following her Grandfather's interest in Africa, she first began traveling to Ghana in 2001, where she visited her families compound in North Odorkor. During this trip she began her photography career with the series Full Circle: A Survey of Hip Hop in Ghana.
Known for approaching her subjects in a manner that is equal parts personal, technical, and intense, Ayana Vellissia Jackson's images provide viewers with compelling glimpses of a human condition that overflows borders. She examines virtual maroon societies and spaces created to accommodate complex identities birthed by a rapidly expanding global community. Her work on Contemporary African and African Diaspporic societies finds itself at the intersection of the social science, reportage, and fine art fields. She has exhibited in association with CulturesFrance (Paris), Gallery MOMO (Johannesburg), Rush Arts, Galerie Peter Herrmann (Berlin), the Franklyn H. Williams CCC/African Diaspora Institute, San Francisco Mexican Museum, Museo del Hombre (Santo Domingo), and the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Art. She has lectured and conducted workshops at university and arts institutions in the US, Dominican Republic, Colombia. Mexico, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Her work can be found in the World Bank, Alcatel Lucent Foundation, and Wedge (Toronto) permanent collections.