Najee Dorsey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Najee Dorsey
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| Born | January 26, 1973 Blytheville, Arkansas
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| Known for | Visual Art Founder/CEO Black Art in America |
| Spouse(s) | Seteria Dorsey |
Najee Dorsey (born in 1973) is an American artist who creates amazing pictures. He uses many different materials like paint, photos, and collages. His art often shows the experiences and culture of African Americans in the Southern United States.
Contents
About Najee Dorsey
His Life Story
Najee Dorsey was born on January 26, 1973, in Blytheville, Arkansas. He started making art when he was very young. He mostly taught himself how to create his artworks.
You can find Dorsey's art in many museums and private collections across the United States. In 2010, he started something special called Black Art in America (BAIA). This is a platform that helps share the work of Black artists. It also connects artists with people who love art and collect it.
What His Art Is About
Dorsey's art shows what it was like growing up in the Southern United States. He especially draws from his childhood in Mississippi County, Arkansas. He uses many ways to make his art, including painting, photography, digital art, and mixed-media collages.
His collages often focus on themes from Southern African American culture. This includes the history of the Blues music and the lives of African Americans in the South.
In 2021, he created a series called The Poor People's Campaign. This name honors Martin Luther King Jr.'s plan for economic fairness. One piece from this series, Ice Cream Melting, was shown on a billboard in Boxtown, Memphis, Tennessee. Boxtown is a historic neighborhood started by people who were formerly enslaved. It was part of a big argument about building an oil pipeline.
This art series talks about Afrofuturism (a way of imagining a future with Black culture and technology) and environmental racism. Environmental racism means that poor communities, often with many people of color, are more likely to live near pollution. Dorsey said his art shows how people live "in plain sight of a lot of these corporate wastelands."
Helping Other Artists
In 2022, Najee Dorsey and his wife, Seteria Dorsey, opened the Black Art in America Gallery and Sculpture Garden. Seteria is also an artist and his business partner. Their gallery is in the Atlanta area, in a building that used to be a church.
The gallery shows art by famous artists like Faith Ringgold, Kerry James Marshall, Alfred Conteh, Delita Martin, Elizabeth Catlett, Samella Lewis, Romare Bearden, and Louis Delsarte.
Dorsey also started the BAIA Foundation. This foundation works to "document, preserve, and promote the contributions of the African American arts community." It has helped projects that keep records of local artists' work. The foundation also connects African American artists with students at schools and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Where You Can See His Art
Dorsey's art has been shown in many galleries and museums. Here are some of the places:
- Museum of Art-DeLand, DeLand, Florida (2022)
- Anika Dawkins Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia (2021)
- Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi, Mississippi (2021)
- Griots Gallery, Miami, Florida (2020)
- PRIZM Art Fair, Miami Art Week (2019)
- Columbus Liberty Theatre, Columbus, Georgia (2019)
- Mildred L. Terry Library, Columbus, Georgia (2019)
- Stonecrest Library, Lithonia, Georgia, The Art of Najee Dorsey: Environmental Injustice, Visions of a Futuristic Black South (2019)
- Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, R.D.’s Backroom
- University of Arkansas Library, Fayetteville, Arkansas, Remixed: Something Ole, Sum Nu Roux (2016)
- The American Jazz Museum, Kansas City, Missouri, Jazz Then and Now (2015)
- Syracuse University, Community Folk Art Center, Resistance (2015)
- The Houston Museum of African American Culture, Houston, Texas, Leaving Mississippi: Reflections on Heroes and Folklore (2015)
- The Columbus Museum, Columbus, Georgia, Leaving Mississippi: Reflections on Heroes and Folklore (2014)
- The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, Michigan, Visions of the 44th Collection (2012)
Some of His Artworks
Here are some of Najee Dorsey's artworks:
- This My Baldwin (2020)
- Return to Eden #1 (2019)
- Shine the Light (2020)
- B-4-Rosa-Here I Stand (2014)
- Baby Boy (2019)
- Bethlehem Steele (2015)
- Captive Audience (2019)
- Harriet’s Daughter (2018)
