The Art Hoe Collective and Making Space for POC Creatives

The Art Hoe Collective and Making the Space for POC Art
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Artwork by Evan Tan, @funkvantan

Artwork by Evan Tan, @funkvantan

The art industry, or the art world, as it is sometimes referred to, has long been criticized for being inaccessible and discriminatory, especially shortchanging the work of women and people of color. But for the most part, the criticisms remain in-house. As a less mainstream, less visible industry, the discrimination that occurs in art often goes unchecked. But the disparities are still there.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts is one organization that works to call attention to that unequal playing field. They find that only three to five percent of permanent art collections are dedicated to women. Of the 590 major exhibitions in the United States from 2007-2013, only 27 percent were dedicated to women, even though women make fifty-one percent of all visual artists.

We can expect that this number gets worse for women who are not white. Artsy Magazine took a closer look at the artists, art dealers, curators, and muses that were highlighted in the 2016 ArtReview’s Power 100 list, a list that seeks to name the most influential of the contemporary art world. In a gender breakdown, thirty-two percent of those on the list are women and sixty-eight percent are men. Furthermore, seventy percent of those on the list are White. Sixteen percent are Asian. Only five percent of the people on the list are Black. In summary, those deemed influential in the contemporary art world are usually white and male.

Artwork by Peaches, @peachesfr

Artwork by Peaches, @peachesfr

Picture from Art Hoe Collective, @arthoecollective

With the advent of technology, those who find that old institutions are not doing a good job of representing them move to create their own. This is the case with fine art and photography. Women, people of color, and queer artists are making their own way by cultivating inclusive art havens on social media platforms like Instagram and Tumblr.

One of those havens is the Art Hoe Collective, a group started by queer people of color that seeks to increase the visibility of all art, but especially those created by young black and brown creatives. Profiled by Teen Vogue, Dazed, and I-D, the Art Hoe Collective has gained a major following. On Instagram, their account has around seventy thousand followers. Among them include Janelle Monáe and Amandla Stenberg.

I recently attended an art gallery curated by the Art Hoe Collective in Los Angeles and got the chance to speak to two members of the movement. They shared their thoughts on the current state of art and the impact they hope groups like the Art Hoe Collective will have on its future.

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Jheyda, She/They

What is the Art Hoe Collective?

Art Hoe Collective is an artistic movement and platform for queer people of color. The Art Hoe Collective fights for representation and to build a community for QPOC in the art world.

How did you begin to get involved?

I got involved first as a contributor. For about a year, I submitted photos for the collective's Instagram gallery. Then I slowly became friends with the members and when they sought a new photo curator, they came to me to ask if I wanted to join them. I happily agreed. Ever since a year and a half ago, I have been curating with them. And not too long ago, I became event coordinator.

You have a strong following on Instagram. And so does the Art Hoe Collective. What is it that you think draws people to the Art Hoe movement?

I think people are drawn to the movement because of how isolated they feel. Many QPOC live in spaces where their identity and interests are not considered valid. One of our main goals is to have a community where young people can be themselves and be interested in art and see POC represented in art and be empowered through that. This environment creates a safe space where people feel allowed to express themselves, meet others similar to them, and see their bodies and experiences represented positively in art.

What are some changes you hope Art Hoe Collective brings to the art world?

I hope that Art Hoe and our events can shift the culture of white dominated art spaces into a more inclusive safe space. I hope we can bring accessibility to art and force the art world to see the value of QPOC and our experiences. Most importantly, I hope we can keep on giving spaces to QPOC to show their work, represent ourselves, and assemble to share our experiences and build lifelong friendships.

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Samone, She/They

Artwork by Simone, @lavender.honey

Artwork by Simone, @lavender.honey

You did a photo series for this gallery. Can you explain what your motivations were behind the series?

I wanted to display my color theory series. Basically, I just took a lot of black kids and just put them against really colorful settings because you don’t get to see beautiful black people wearing yellow, wearing colors, and getting to show off their skin tone. And using all different skin tones. Not just lighter skinned models, but also dark skin models. Just really representing them in the way they deserve to be represented and not the way the media portrays us.

What got you into photography?

I’ve been doing photography since I was little. My grandma gave me a Polaroid camera and it really just started all of this. She was always taking pictures of the family and that passed down to me. So I started taking pictures of family and friends.

For black and brown kids who want to get involved in the arts, what advice would you give them?

Just never stop. If you want to do photography, go to the thrift store and get cheap camera and never stop taking photos. If you want to paint, paint! Paint what you want. Don’t paint what you think other people want you to. Just do what you want to do and stay true to yourself.

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