Tajh Rust and Tariku Shiferaw
Virtual Studio Talk with Artists Tajh Rust and Tariku Shiferaw
Thursday, October 15, 2020
2 pm EST
@forwhichitstands
Join us for a virtual studio talk between conceptual artists Tajh Rust and Tariku Shiferaw. In Rust’s piece -nation (Hyphenation), the artist swaps the traditional red and white stripes for varying tones of skin color, altering the flag template to reflect the society he sees around him. Inspired by the experiences and struggles of Black people expressed in music, such as, Hip-Hop, R&B, Jazz, Blues, and Reggae, Shiferaw’s minimalist painting, Tearz (Wu-Tang), subtly absorbs these references, identities, histories, and reimagines the current and future presence of Black lives.
Image above: Left - Tariku Shiferaw, Tearz (Wu-Tang), 2019, spray paint, iridescent film, mylar, vinyl, 48 x 36 inches,⠀Photo by Dario Lasagni, courtesy of the artist. Right - Tajh Rust, -nation (Hyphenation), 2016, acrylic on nylon, 60 x 36 inches, edition of 5, Photo by NURTUREart, courtesy of the artist.⠀
Tajh Rust (b. 1989) is a visual artist based in New York and New Haven and a 2019 MFA graduate from the School of Art at Yale University. Rust received his bachelor's degree in Painting and Film from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York, and he was in the inaugural group of artists participating in the Black Rock Senegal artist residency in 2019. Since 2011, Rust has been included in exhibitions such as Familiar Boundaries. Infinite Possibilities, at The August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Pittsburgh (2018), Winterfly Benefit, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) in Brooklyn (2017), and Speak Out, the Bronx Art Space (2016).
@tajhrust
Tajh Rust, Vigil, 2020, Oil on canvas, 70 x 52 inches, courtesy of the artist
Tariku Shiferaw is a New York based artist who explores mark-making in order to address the physical and metaphysical spaces of painting and social structures. Shiferaw’s recent exhibitions include Men of Change, a nationally traveling exhibition with the Smithsonian Institution (2019-2022), and Unbound, at the Zuckerman Museum of Art (2020). Other group shows include the 2017 Whitney Biennial, as part of Occupy Museums; A Poet*hical Wager, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (2017); and What’s Love Got to Do With It?, at The Drawing Center (2019. Shiferaw participated in the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program (2018 -2019) and Open Sessions at The Drawing Center (2018 – 2020).
@abstractexit
Tariku Shiferaw, Love Can Be (Vince Staples), 2018, spray paint, vinyl, 24 x 20 inches, courtesy of the artist