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B-Girl Be: A Celebration of Women in Hip Hop

June 28 – September 9, 2007
rap . graffiti . dj . dance . panels . fashion . poetry . visual exhibition . film

Laylah Amatullah Barrayn


My offering to the Art of Truth and Activism exhibition are two portraits of women from the African Diaspora. One, Astou, an MC and socialite in Dakar, Senegal and the other of Ogechi, a visual and performance artist of Nigerian heritage. These portraits are minimalist in composition so as to express the universality and spectrum of the participants in Hip Hop culture. My subjects are lovers and champions of the elements of Hip Hop. Astou and Ogechi's portraits proactively speak to the theme of truth in that they are unusual representations of women in hip hop. Hopefully, viewers will be inspired to examine their own formulations and definitions of how "lady of hip hop" would look or 'be.'

Laylah Amatullah Barrayn is a essayist and photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her writings on culture and the arts have taken her to Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Her work has been published in Essence, Vibe, The Source CodeZonline.com and Studio: The Magazine of the Studio Museum in Harlem. Laylah recently curated the Public Perspectives exhibition series at the Brooklyn Historical Society.

http://BlackandTanFantasy.blogspot.com/

 
kid & family-friendly . all ages . all genders . all incomes . all ethnic communities