IU undergraduate brings Eighteen Art Collective to campus
Source: Themester
Three years after applying to IU’s pre-medical track, IU junior Austin Clark’s days are filled with art rather than science. Now pursuing a B.F.A. in photography from the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design and a B.A. in art history, Clark is sharing his passion for art by bringing a group of prominent Black Indianapolis artists to Bloomington’s campus.
Three members of the Eighteen Art Collective, Gary Gee, Amiah Mims, and Kyng Rhodes, will discuss art, race, and truth as part of Themester 2023’s focus on “Light and Truth.”
A native of the Indianapolis metropolitan area, Clark knew of the group before attending IU. Forming in summer 2020, the Collective painted the Black Lives Matter mural on Indiana Avenue in Indianapolis. They recently closed a one-year-long exhibition at Newfields.
“The Collective's art plays a huge role in raising community awareness and creating representational space for Black people in the arts," Clark said. "This is why they are making public art."
Before the Eighteen Art Collective panel discussion, Clark had never planned an event. “The most difficult part of event planning is the strict timeline," Clark said. "It has been interesting to now be planning an event because I have gone to so many of these talks, but I never realized the work that goes into events. No matter how difficult it is, I really want to make this event happen because I hope it can inspire further conversation and make a difference in the community."
That desire to make a difference was what led Clark to serve on the Themester 2023 advisory committee. In fall 2022, Clark took Intermediate Photography. His course engaged with the Themester 2022 theme “Identity and Identification” and made him aware of what Themester can do for students with professors who actively engage with the theme.
In addition to planning logistics and promotions, Clark will moderate the discussion. “While I study art history, moderating an event requires me to actually become an art historian,” said Clark. “I need to know the details of what happened at this time, and how that could possibly impact this. While this might not be a large part of the conversation, I must be able to expand into these niche pockets of time to be able to steer the conversation in any direction.”
Clark has found it difficult to identify historical Black artist representation and hopes to bring Black artists to the forefront. “In Eurocentric art history, it is so easy to find the communities that white artists belong to and then find multiple artists speaking about certain points,” said Clark. But, Clark noted, while we know of a few well-established Black artists, many significant talents are forgotten. “The person that we always study is never the only person to be doing that in their time period,” said Clark.
Clark's own work as an artist focuses on self-portraiture and introspection. Through his photography, Clark creates space to exist as his unadulterated self. He is his own audience. “I am not really interested in how other people are reading the image," said Clark. "I look back at these images to determine what they tell me about myself.”
“I am excited for what this talk can do in Bloomington's community for Black artists," said Clark. "There are plenty of Black artists that are making work surrounding a Black narrative in the Bloomington community. Bloomington used to have a very prevalent Black community in the 60s. I am hoping that this conversation can speak to Bloomington’s imperfect history and encourage people to think about these issues that I think about every day as a Black artist.”
“I switched my major the summer before my freshman year because I wanted to see where photography and art could take me,” said Clark. “I have never regretted that change. The arts encourage me to think about the world and myself differently.”
The Eighteen Art Collective panel discussion is on Monday, November 6 from 6:00 to 7:30 PM at the Eskenazi School's Mies van der Rohe building, 321 N Eagleson Ave.
