Julia Bottoms, “Tinted,” April 28-June 2, 2017

Exhibition Catalog, Van Tran Nguyen and Julia Bottoms

Julia Bottoms’ current body of work originally developed as a response to the media’s repetition of racially biased imagery in the wake of the Trayvon Martin case. She rejected the hyper-sexual, violent, and sinister portrayal of people of color that saturated the media at that time and that persists today. To counter the manufactured images of popular culture, Bottoms looked to the dynamic and creative young men and women whom she encounters in her daily life.

The paintings, often two or three times life-size, recall the commemorative portraits too often reserved for those with political or social status. Placed against bright backdrops and adorned with crowns or capes, many of these figures emit both power and grace. Douglas uses traditional oil paint and classical portraiture to show men and women of color as not only powerful, but also sensitive, honest, loving, and human. She conveys a sense of vulnerability and innocence through implied nudity, subtle gesture, and realistic body types.

Julia Bottoms is a creative entrepreneur with a bachelor’s degree in Art Education from Buffalo State College. She is on the Board of Directors at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, is a featured artist and writer for Afropunk Media, and serves as an instructor for Buffalo City Summer School for the Arts, Buffalo Arts Teachers Collaborative, and Buffalo Arts Studio. She also owns Buffalo Brush, Paint, and Sip in North Buffalo

This exhibition is sponsored, in part, by Open Buffalo. It is the first exhibition in the annual Open Buffalo Emerging Artist series.

To learn more about this artist visit: https://www.juliabottoms.com/home