Visit Houston’s iconic Third Ward neighborhood through the lenses of six photographers with deep roots in the area at the Community Artists’ Collective’s August exhibit.
“Third Ward Special,” opening August 11, features the works of Marc Furi, Flash Gordon Parks, Rabéa Ballin, Risky Cereal, Brian Ellison and Derrell Boson.
The art is inspired by the many facets of the cultural, historic epicenter and is curated by Miles Payne and Marc Newsome.
The Third Ward, one of Houston’s oldest neighborhoods, is a historically Black community with a neighborhood park originally purchased by former slaves. It is home to Texas Southern University, a historically Black college. The community is considered by some to be the cradle to the city’s civil rights movement. Many Black artists, activists, judges and politicians grew up in the area.
An opening reception will be held Saturday, August 14, from 5 to 7 p.m., the exhibit continues through September 25. The Collective, 4101 San Jacinto, Suite 116, is open Thursdays through Saturdays from 12 noon until 5 p.m. and by appointment.
For more information about the exhibit contact The Collective at 713-523-1616 or visit www.thecollective.org.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Jason Woods aka Flash Gordon Parks is an ethnomusicologist in Houston. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Photography at Sam Houston State University in 2001.
In 2005 Parks published a book of photography and poetry called “The Beautiful Side of Ugly” with Eric Blaylock. TBSOU combined the poetic words of Blaylock with the striking images of FGP to document the beauty of urban areas of Houston, Texas.
He has also maintained several DJ residencies which range from Blues to Jazz to Soul/Funk to Hip Hop since 2004. As a DJ, he strives to educate the audience through carefully thought-out selections. Parks often collects, documents and lectures on the importance of Houston’s rich music history and has lectured at such institutions as Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Rice University, Art League Houston and more.
In 2015 Parks directed the documentary “This Thing We Do Houston DJ Culture Revealed,” which is an introduction to the world of DeeJaying in the City of Houston.
In 2019 Parks directed the documentary “Archie Bell,” celebrating the achievements of Soul Music Icon Mr. Tighten Up (Archie Bell).
Most notable events include Motown on Mondays Houston and a Fistful of Soul
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Rabéa Ballin was born in Germany and raised in Louisiana. The Houston-based artist earned her BFA in design at McNeese State University and her MFA in drawing and painting at the University of Houston, Her multi-disciplinary works explore the uniqueness of self-identity, hair politics and social commentary. She documents these themes primarily through drawing, digital photography and various printmaking practices. In addition to working as an independent artist, she has been a member of the all-female ROUX printmaking collective since 2011. Ballin has served as an artist board member at both Art League Houston and DiverseWorks and has completed residencies at DiverseWorks, Tougaloo College and Project Row Houses. Ballin currently serves as department chair and assistant professor of art history and drawing at Lone Star College. She currently lives and works in Houston’s historic Third Ward community.
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Andrew ‘Risky Cereal’ Evans was born in Los Angeles in 1972 and came up during a time of thriving beauty and extreme violence in his city. He became an observer of detail through his immersion in the LA scene. After attending Grambling State University and receiving a BA in Communications in TV production, Risky took what he learned and returned to Los Angeles to implement his education. Through this, he thrived and became involved in the fashion, music and the film industry, working with such groups as Jurassic 5, Mad Lion, Pharcyde, Shafiq Hussain, Anthony David and Dove Society. Risky also worked as a sales, marketing and branding manager for urban fashion labels Live Mechanics, Green Apple Tree, GAT Jeans and Sedgwick & Cedar.
When Risky moved to Houston in 2005, he quickly established himself as a music manager, creating the production company, Milky Wayv, which led to the rise of artists like Indie label Stone Throw’s Peyton. Maintaining his fashion and music and film experience, he began to produce and direct much of the music videos and short films for his production company.
By 2016, Risky was working with Amazon series writers, educational documentary short creators and creating personal artistic expressions through photography and film.
Risky has fused all of his work through co-hosting and DJ’ng the Tre Brew Morning Show on All Real Radio.com, where he is able to funnel all of his links to bring the Los Angeles, Houston and world connection. He currently resides in Third Ward- Houston. His community and world view forces his audience to question their own views through simplistic, artful, thoughtful mixed mediums. He is currently working on film and radio projects and continues to collaborate and bring forth his own ideas through film, music and fashion.
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Marc Newsome aka Marc Furi is a multidisciplinary concept artist based in Houston. His primary mediums are storytelling, photography, documentary filmmaking, graphic design, social practice and soundscape. His recent focus of inspiration comes from the stories of his own neighborhood of Third Ward - an area of Houston currently undergoing the rapid socioeconomic changes of gentrification.
Newsome, who also goes by his artist moniker, Marc Furi, recently designed a 10’ x 10’ game board art piece satirically depicting a gentrified Third Ward as a game of Monopoly displayed at the exterior of the Station Museum of Contemporary Arts. Summer 2020 he partnered with the Lululemon organization and designed an anti-racism public art campaign called De-Racism as a series of wheat paste posters posted as street art in various Houston locations. He was an exhibitionist in the FotoFest 2020 Biennial – African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the Other for his documentary photography of Third Ward printed on metal. His participation in the Mini Murals project was a collaborative project with legendary muralist Israel McCloud. Together they designed and McCloud implemented the transforming of two public lightboxes which included odes to historic Third Ward musicians, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Arnett Cobb.
His previous I Love 3rd Ward solo photography, video and soundscape show at Art League Houston took place 2018-2019. Prior to that (2017) he participated in the 47th round of artists at Project Row Houses for his I (heart) 3rd Ward project.
His numerous grant awards for documentary projects including his I LOVE 3RD WARD Series where interviewees are asked what they love about the Third Ward area (2018), EXTRAORDINARY ELDERS, a short form docu-series where elders are interviewed by children (2019 – present), The Legendary Dr. Thomas F. Freeman and the TSU Debate Team (2020).
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Brian Ellison is a photographer, cinematographer and creative director. Brian believes that art is a universal language that can be the catalyst for healing. Through his lens, Brian documents the everyday Black experience such as gentrification's impact on historical communities, under-publicized Black love and comradery, parenthood and the persistent courage of Black women and men.