Out Loud

Ken Ellis

Ken is a native of Chicago and credits his interest in art to his father who taught him to sew.   Taken from news images and stories, Ken's creations have ranged from shocking historical scenes of the life of black and native Americans to Haitian voodoo, crime figures, Chicago's punk rock scene, Asian art and children's nursery rhymes.

Having worked as a professional bartender in Chicago, Ken's recent works are dear to his heart and feature historically lessor-known actual working bartenders, going back prior to the Prohibition period, shining a light on their colorful past.

Ken's work is exhibited around the country and was featured in Anatomically Correct's exhibition Sewing the Seeds A Look at Violence in American History and Fairy Tale Friends in Chicago.   Ken's Bonnie & Clyde quilt from the Sewing the Seeds exhibition can be seen on the cover of Dr. Dog's "Fate" album released on July 22, 2008 http://www.myspace.com/drdog.

"My early childhood was in BronzeVille, one of my earliest memories is drawing on the blank pages of a set Biblical storybooks my Ma had bought me. I attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Art from 1973 to 1975 studying Cartooning, Animation & Film Making and the School of the Art Institute in 1975/76 studying animation, I also studied writing, television production & intro. into television at Columbia College in 1976/77. I have been drawing & painting as long as I can remember I originally painted in oils & was introduced to this medium by my x-wife Marilyn. We would use the dyes to make hand painted tee's , pillows, & baby blankets, Marilyn had some painting she had done w/ the dye which she quilted by adding a batting to the back of the painting which gives the piece a quilted/ relief effect. Working with the fabric dyes, needle & thread I feel as though I'm working WITH the piece as oppose to working ON a piece with paint, this makes me feel more at one with the piece. Most of my early pieces are portraits of historical figures, both known & obscure. Themes I've incorporated in the early pieces gangsters, musicians, black western, native Americans, freaks. Since the late 90's I've began to use different drawing styles & adding beadwork & objects to my pieces & some of the recent themes have been Haitian Voodoo, African- American Northern Migration, I also have done a series of Fairy Tale & Nursery Rhymes and pieces based on Japanese prints."

Ken's artwork can be seen in the film " High Fidelity" & you can read about it in the book "Wild Chicago" and he appeared on a WTTW television episode.   Several of his quilts are featured in the International Review of African American Art - vol.17 #1- The Black- Indian Connection in American Art. Ken was also featured in the film, You Weren't There, a history of the Chicago Punk Rock scene from 1977-1984.

His quilts have been exhibited in many galleries in Chicago, New Mexico, Michigan and Minnesota. In 2013/2014, the Chicago Cultural Center featured his quilts in a solo exhibition.

Ken is represented by Anatomcially Correct Arts. More of his work can be seen online: https://www.anatomicallycorrect.org/KenEllis.htm

Mary Mcleod Bethune - Fabric Dye on Canvas, Hand-Quilted - 24 x 24"

I and I - Fabric Dye on Canvas, Hand-Quilted - 25 x 20"

Chango, Fabric Dye on Canvas, Hand-Quilted - 25 x 30"

Elegua - Fabric Dye on Canvas, Hand-Quilted with feathers - 25 x 30"

Orula - Fabric Dye on Canvas, Hand-Quilted with chains and beads - 25 x 30"

Ochun - Fabric Dye on Canvas, Hand-Quilted with feathers, chains and beads - 25 x 30"

Fran Joy

Fran Joy is an artist, designer, curator, and life coach currently living in Evanston. Born and raised in southern Illinois, she moved on to New Orleans and then to the greater Chicago/Evanston area. This life experience plus ten years of residence in Los Angeles and frequent visits to New York City have flavored and colored her passion as an artist.

After studying oil painting, creative writing, and drawing at Columbia College in Chicago, Joy combined her own experimentation with the impromptu training she received from independent artists whose work she admired. Joy is known for her images on social justice, women, spirit images, iconic portraits, colorful abstract landscapes, and large designer wood screens and wall mounts. Her paintings usually begin with an acrylic base on canvas or wood followed by oil pastels, which are used with various sponges for texture, blending and intensity. The colors are usually vivid!

Joy has been featured on the cover of Evanston Magazine and has appeared in the Evanston Review and in the Chicago Tribune.

Joy completed an artist-in-residency at Garrett Theological Seminary on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus exploring themes of social justice and non-violence; it comprised four exhibitions, and two large pieces remain as part of Garrett’s permanent collection: “Violence Interrupted” and “Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.” Joy also served a residency at Garrett’s Center for the Church and the Black Experience (CBE) focused on “Women in the Day of Trump.”

Joy curated and produced Justice for Peace, a show at Noyes Cultural Art Center that included spoken word artists, spiritual vocalists, and voter activists. She participated in the traveling Chicago/Evanston exhibit Faces Not Forgotten to shed light on young victims of gun violence. She participates in the Evanston Made group show each year. Women Speak, Joy’s exhibition and inspirational event celebrating women at the Lorraine Morton Civic Center, drew over one hundred attendees. Her social justice works were featured in the powerful Mudlark/Art of Evolution theatre production I.D.

Joy has exhibited at the Evanston Art Center, the Noyes Cultural Art Center, 1100 Florence Gallery, Curt’s Cafe, Open Studio Project, Garrett Theological Seminary, Artem Gallery, Danon Gallery, Lorraine Morton Civic Center, and Creative Coworking and her works are in private collections nationally, as well as in Canada and New Zealand.

She received the Evanston Mayor’s Artist of the Year Award in 2019 for her work on social justice and women. Joy formerly served on the Evanston Arts Council and on the board of Young Evanston Artists!. Currently, she serves on the Evanston Public Art Committee and on the Exhibition Committee of the Evanston Art Center.

Emmett - Oil Pastel/Acrylic on Canvas - 24 x 30" $3,000

On August 28, 1955, Emmett Till, a 14 year-old boy from Chicago, was brutally totured and murdered white visiting his family in Money, Mississippi. It is said that the killing of Emmett Till marked the start of the Civil Rights Movement.

Amazon Prime is currently showing the documentary, "The Untold Story of Emmett Till" and a six part series titled the “Women of the Movement” about Emmett and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, aired on ABC television January 6, 2022 and can be found on various streaming platforms.

Value My Life - Oil pastel/acrylic on wood - 18 x 24" $750

This portrait of a young Black girl represents innocence. She is asking for her life to have value, with no put downs, no bullying, no sexual abuse, and no racial devaluing.

Tamir Rice - Oil Pastel on Canvas - 24 x 30"    $1,200

Tamir Rice was a 12-year-old Black boy killed in Cleveland, Ohio by Timothy Loehmann, a white police officer for carrying a toy gun. His death is one of the many police killings which have sparked the nationwide Black Lives Matter movement.

Hands Up - Acrylic on Wood Panel 24" 48" $2,500

This painting reflects the numerous, senseless killings of Black youths in Chicago.

Cherie Lockett

Bio to come...

Bull Run - Ceramic Vase - 6 1/2" x 4 1/2" (shown both sides) $150

Cave Drawings - Ceramic Bowl - 11" x 6" (shown 3 sides) $250

Cabria McCraney

An illustrator, painter, designer, and sculptor these titles all speak to who I am…an artist. Just as I have many titles as an artist, I also have a passion for many styles of art. But the art I find myself drifting towards the most is realism. The idea that I could recreate life on paper just as we see it with our own eyes with merely a pencil and eraser is so compelling to me. Creating portraits is especially appealing because it is one of the most complex three dimensional forms to master. In the same way that I enjoy the challenge of making realistic art, I also embrace the challenge of creating art that has some idealistic qualities. It allows another level of creativity and inspiration. When entering the realm of idealism, it allows me to tap into the design mode of my creativity, where I can convey emotion and more in depth messages to the viewer by usage of various colors from paints, colored pencils, or pastels.

I was born in Downers Grover. I am a graduate of Rasmussen University and will be a graduate of Concordia University, with a degree in Art and Graphic Design. I have been featured artworks at the Ferguson Art Gallery in River Forest and I have also exhibited with “A Spectacular Black Girl Art Show.”

Good Hair - Mixed Media (acrylic paint, glitter glue, and bamboo earrings) - 11 x 14" - $ 550 each

This series of four paintings highlights African American hair and hairstyles. It focuses on how versatile African hair can be and how so often “good hair” has been defined by how long or manageable a person’s hair is, when that should not be the case because all hair types are beautiful.

Luxury - Mixed Media (acrylic paint and false eyelashes) - 18 x 24" - $460

“The state of great comfort and extravagant living.” This piece is a representation of luxury and what it feels like. She is embodying contentment, confidence, and comfort. While still developing herself into a deeper being that is not as materialistic.

Tasha Nemo

Bio to come..

"This painting is an homage to the founders of the Black Panther Party. Father, who knows the history of BPP and Malcolm X is teaching his son about their Black liberation history in US and boy is now part of BLM movement as he learns about his legacy. Both are kings because they are black men learning their history."

Standing on the Shoulders

Jevoid Simmons

Jevoid Simmons is a 40-year resident of Evanston, IL. He and his life partner (wife) Dickelle Fonda are proud parents of Seth Simmons. Seth also resides in Evanston. Jevoid retired three years ago after a 35-year managerial career as a human resource professional. The last 17 years were spent with the Art Institute of Chicago where he served as Director of Employee Relations and Training for the School and Museum. Central to his work was policy development, conflict resolution, managerial effectiveness and diversity equity and inclusion.

Jevoid considers himself to be a work in progress. Embracing retirement, his mantra, is “I’m working to be the me I’m meant to be at this time in life”. In this life segment, a good deal of his time is devoted to making art. This has been a life-long love for him. Though he has worked in a number of artistic styles, he considers his current art making to be more in line with folk and primitive traditions. He paints and carves and has exhibited his work locally at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center; Evanston’s Noyes Cultural Art Center; Evanston Art Center; Garrett Theological Seminary (Northwestern University); The Art Institute of Chicago and Creative Coworking Gallery.

Jevoid volunteers with new not for profit, Equity and Empowerment for Evanston Families (EEEF) with its summer camp for black and brown boys (grades 3-8). He conducts the art component for the camp. He was also served on the Evanston Art Council’s Art Equity Subcommittee and worked on various working groups supporting the community.

Jevoid’s first book, Up From Down Home, A Family’s Journey North, was published June 2021. The book tells of his family’s migration out of rural Alabama in the early 1950’s. Like so many, his family was part of the mass exodus of Black folks out of the South for survival and better opportunities. The book can be purchased on-line at www.upfromdownhome.com.

"Racism in this country fueled economic development with unpaid labor of enslaved black people and land stolen from indigenous people. This is an ugly truth many people would rather sweep under the rug. The thought is 'let’s just move on'. Moving forward without addressing this issue is like ignoring a malignant tumor in the body. There is no healing without dealing with this truth. Racism is still alive and well in America. It’s entrenched in our institutions and is embedded within all of us. I don’t believe it can be eradicated without people who are white acknowledging this truth. Then, with this understanding, taking on the heroic task of confronting racism, privilege and supremacy. The Burial is a symbolic representation of this needed action. The painting is not a condemnation, rather it is a loving call for this essential work. The time is now!"

The Burial - Acrylic on Canvas - 24 x 30"

Cheryl Toles Bio to come.

Behind the Mask -

Making Away

SHOLO

I am a mixed media intuitive artist living on the Northside of Chicago. I am a 53 year-old single mother of two that has always only prioritized my children and my art for the last twenty years. I have learned embracing my mistakes make for a better understanding of what the universe wants for my art. I like to consider myself a self taught artist learning through the organic shapes in nature and the energy of the female body. I was lucky enough to experience top art schools in Chicago while working several jobs. I rebelled against rules of technique and styles, to develop my own. I am a fashion junkie for textiles and patterns, creating utopia environments with my collage and mixed media art.

My activism to right the injustices against people of color has caused my art to evolve. I am very verbally active artistically in my community - spreading the messages of love to our neighbors. Each piece of art represents the blood shed of the people of color that continues today. I am channeling the pain and suffering of my ancestors that bare no faces to the ones that harmed them. Not being able to identify the faces takes you to the mindset of a POC not feeling relevant enough to live or have justice

I am also taking my art to the streets to advocate for social changes on racism, and women's rights with the murals, painted in bright colors with hidden messages to observe and process. The mediums and techniques used are homemade inks, collage, watercolor, and the new medium of encaustic wax painting with acrylic inks.

With our current situation in the world, my art has become a necessity for myself and others. There is a need for expression and discussion from POC. I am not concerned with my art work being liked by society, but I do want my work to spark an emotion to the viewer to ask the question of why when they see my art.

"I Am Aware I Am Rare" is my motto, embracing being a female black artist without boundaries for expression in my creations.

Don't Look Back - Digital Art - 11 x 17"

Nina - Digital Art - 11 x 17"

SHOLO Self Portrait - Digital Art - 11 x 17"

Seeing the Light - Digital Art - 11 x 17"

Founded in 1991, Anatomically Correct is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to showcasing works by artists in alternative spaces in a combined effort to educate, diversify, and promote community awareness of the visual and performing arts.

This project is sponsored in part by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency and the Skokie Park District.