MLK Celebration Week: Fireside chat with Robin North
Join Robin North, an interdisciplinary visual artist and educator who grew up along the Gulf Coast in the deep south of Texas, for a discussion in the Student Union Living Room.
North is visiting Northwest in conjunction with the opening of his exhibit, “An Archive of Care: Reframing Our Understanding of Family, Place, and Identity,” in the Olive Deluce Art Gallery.
North employs Grounded Theory and Visual Anthropological research methods, placing himself in local cultures and taking a visual storytelling approach to educate and decolonize knowledge free of Western narratives and aesthetics.
His work focuses on African Diaspora and African American historical narratives with an emphasis on how photography has been historically used to diminish Black representation and perpetuate racial inferiority. Through visual storytelling, North transforms archival materials into works that challenge dominant historical frameworks and offer alternative interpretations. His artistic practice reinterprets the silenced histories of Black Southern families, creating pieces that connect past struggles to contemporary social dynamics and generate new visual dialogues that invite audiences to question historical assumptions and explore the resilience embedded in African diasporic experiences.
North earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography and digital media from the University of Houston and a Master of Fine Arts in art with a concentration in photography and multimedia from San Diego State University. He is recognized for his innovative approach to 19th-century photographic print processes, analog and digital photo-based image-making, multimedia, emerging technologies.
North’s visit and exhibition are co-sponsored by Northwest’s School of Fine and Performing Arts and the Center for Engagement & Community Connection as part of the University’s Black History Month activities. Funding support for the exhibit also comes from the Missouri Arts Council.
Caption: Fireside Chat with artist Robin North on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 5:30 p.m. in the Union Fireside Lounge. Free pizza provided. Robin North is an interdisciplinary visual artist and educator who explores the intersection of photography, history, and systemic racism, focusing on the African Diaspora. The artist's work will be in the Olive Deluce Gallery from Jan. 24 - Feb. 21, 2025. For more of Robin North's work, visit robinnorth.info. Sponsored by the Center for Engagement & Community Connection and the School of Fine and Performing Arts.
