ShowUp Presents its inaugural exhibition: Kids From the Stars featuring the work of Boston-based artist Jameel Radcliffe
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Exhibition: Kids From the Stars
Venue: ShowUp (formerly Beacon Gallery), 524B Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02118
Dates: January 26th - February 25th, 2024
Exhibition Hours: Thursday through Saturday, 12pm - 5pm & by appointment
January 25, 2024 (BOSTON, MA) – ShowUp is pleased to announce its first exhibition as a rebranded space, Kids From The Stars, featuring the work of Boston-based artist Jameel Radcliffe, and curated by Chenoa Baker. This inaugural exhibition runs from January 26 - February 25, 2024.
Jameel Radcliffe: Kids From The Stars is the artist’s first solo exhibition with the newly rebranded space ShowUp. It will feature over twenty of his large oil paintings, including both self-portraits and portraits of others.
Radcliffe’s eye-catching figurative works offer a portal into a fantasy world of the artist’s own making and are a counterpoint to his practice as an abstract artist. Nonetheless, aspects of abstraction are visible within multiple pieces. His use of symbolism, such as birds, and either bright or muted colors, creates an atmospheric viewing experience.
Alphonse Mucha, an Art Nouveau illustrator, inspired this newest series of work which blends both Christian architecture and multicultural masquerade traditions. The same words used to describe Mucha — “potent fusion of music, art, aroma, and architecture”— resonate with Radcliffe’s work.
Radcliffe is a current Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) studio resident. Randi Hopkins, the Director of Visual Arts at the BCA says of Radcliffe’s work, “Jameel’s rich paintings have an immediacy that arises from his powerful use of color, texture, and form, as well symbolic and poetic layers that reward repeated, close looking.”
The founder and Executive Director of ShowUp, Christine O’Donnell, says of Radcliffe, "We are delighted to have Jameel as ShowUp's official first exhibiting artist. Part of our mission is to amplify artists and their voices. We are excited to bring Jameel's vision into our space."
ShowUp, Founded in 2019 by Christine O’Donnell is a 501c3 sister nonprofit to Beacon Gallery, and took over the 524b Harrison Ave art space in January 2024. O’Donnell continues on as Executive Director. ShowUp will feature exhibitions by a range of curators, host programming, workshops, and community events. ShowUp’s mission is to empower artists and curators to experiment, learn, and have meaningful exchanges, amplify artists and their voices, give artists tools for self-sufficiency, and connect artists to local communities and beyond. Their new website is showupinc.org
An opening reception to celebrate Kids From the Stars is planned for February 2nd, 2024 from 5-8 pm.
About the Artist
Jameel Radcliffe (he/him) is an artist and educator inspired by the flourishing community of his hometown, Boston. He received his BFA from Montserrat College of Art in 2017 and had his first solo show at The Flowering Rock, where he displayed a series of abstract works. His work is in an array of private collections. But most importantly, Radcliffe inspires the next generation of creators through his work as an educator and mentor to young artists at Artists For Humanity.
About the Curator
Chenoa Baker (she/her) is a curator, wordsmith, and descendant of self-emancipators. Art spaces as incubators for intergroup dialogue and imaginative portals were her foray into curatorial work. She worked on: Gio Swaby: Fresh Up at the Peabody Essex Museum; Simone Leigh at ICA/Boston; and Touching Roots: Black Ancestral Legacies in the Americas at MFA/Boston. Her autobiographical-style art criticism appears in Public Parking, Material Intelligence, Studio Potter, Boston Art Review, Sixty Inches From Center, Burnaway, and a monograph contribution for Helena Metaferia: Generations, Art For This Moment.
About ShowUp
ShowUp is a haven for disruptors of the artistic status quo. We are an art-focused community, specialized in exhibitions, programs, and opportunities both inside and beyond our walls.
Our mission is to
EMPOWER artists and curators to experiment, learn and have meaningful exchanges
AMPLIFY artists and their voices
GIVE artists tools for self-sufficiency
CONNECT artists to local communities and beyond
Learn more on online and on Instagram.
