The Art Hang
Decolonize. Democratize. Discuss.
The Art Hang is a free zoom meet-up for creatively minded people. The Art Hang aims to harness the social power of art in order to decolonize, democratize, and discuss creative fields.
We meet every other Monday night at 8pm EST on Zoom.
All are welcome :)
Meet your Hosts
Koa Ho (He/Him)
Koa is a musician, photographer and educator originally from Honolulu, HI and currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Outside of various projects as a performer, his educational focus has been on bringing higher education in the arts to incarcerated populations, working throughout multiple prisons in South Florida.
Alana Barrett (She/Her)
Alana Barrett is a multimedia artist and educator from South Florida. She is interested in democratizing art spaces and education in the arts.
Day Brièrre (She/Her)
Day is a Haitian multimedia visual artist with an interest in decolonizing and folk art.
Diego Melgar (He/Him)
A fixture of Miami’s live music scene, Diego Melgar is an internationally performing guitarist, composer, and improvisor. Outside of his own creative endeavors, Diego has opened for artists such as Common and Khruangbin, and performed with Michael Tilson Thomas and Lauren Jauregui. With an adoration for drawing since the age of two, the philosophies of visual artists have always heavily influenced his approach to music.
The Art Hang Mission
Create a free and welcoming environment to learn about art and other creative fields.
Community and peer based learning through discussion and conversation.
Challenge the traditional art history canon.
Decolonize art and creative spaces.
Emphasize the work of BIPOC and LGBT+ creatives
… and so many more goals we want to work towards with the Art Hang Community!
Past Discussion Topics
November 9th, 2020
Julie Mehretu, Jason Moran, the Hudson River School, Western expansion, colonization, the intersections between music and art, and more.
Discussion Leaders: Alana Barrett and Diego Melgar
November 16th, 2020
Continued discussion of Julie Mehretu, Jason Moran, Western expansion, colonization, the intersections between music and art, and more.
Discussion Leaders: Alana Barrett and Diego Melgar
November 23rd, 2020
A focus on Indigenous Futurism, featuring the artists Jeffrey Gibson, Wendy Red Star, Rebecca Belmore, and Buffy Sainte-Marie.
Discussion Leader: Koa Ho
November 30th, 2020
Continued discussion of Jeffrey Gibson and Indigenous Futurism.
Discussion Leader: Alana Barrett
December 7th, 2020
Discussion of Nick Cave’s sound suits and his Mass MoCA show “Until”.
Discussion Leader: Alana Barrett
December 14th, 2020
Exploring the Afro-futurist world of the musician, performer, and artist Sun Ra.
Discussion Leader: Diego Melgar
December 21st, 2020
A discussion of visual artist and scientist Mary Maggic, with a focus on the following topics: biohacking, open-source collaboration, hormone biopolitics, eco-heteronormativity, molecular queering and more.
Discussion Leader: Alana Barrett
December 28th, 2020
The Art Hang discusses body modifications, internal vs. external, “shock” factor, and the body as performance by studying Stelarc's performance art pieces “Ear on Arm”, “Exoskeleton”, and “Third Hand”.
Discussion Leader: Alana Barrett
January 4th, 2021
The Art Hang continues the conversation about body modifications, and opens a dialogue about fictional futures and technology by studying Neri Oxman’s work “Wanderer’s: An Astrobiological Exploration” and the Mediated Matter Research Group at MIT’s Media lab.
Discussion Leader: Alana Barrett
January 11th, 2021
An exploration of Paul Klee, with a focus on polyphony, primitivism, and the complex logic and construction of Paul Klee’s diverse body of work.
Discussion Leader: Diego Melgar
January 18th, 2021
The Art Hang focuses on the work of Wifredo Lam with focus points on: the practice of decolonization, Lam’s relationship with Picasso, and expression of his Cuban culture through painting.
Discussion Leaders: Day Briérre and Alana Barrett
January 25th, 2021
Andrew Thomas Huang, interstitial space and cultural displacement. The Art Hang views and discusses two of Huang’s videos - “Interstice” and “Solipsist”.
Discussion Leaders: Koa Ho, Day Briérre and Alana Barrett
February 1st, 2021
The Art Hang discusses the work of digital artist “Weirdcore”.
Discussion Leader: Diego Melgar
February 8th, 2021
The Art Hang views the movie “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am”.
February 15th, 2021:
The Art Hang views the movie “Black Art: in the Absence of Light”.
February 22nd, 2021
Tschabalala Self and the black female body in contemporary culture. Other discussion points included a focus on color - such as how Self uses color relationships, patterns, flatness and dimension to build her work.
Discussion Leaders: Alana Barrett and Day Briérre
March 1st, 2021
The Art Hang discusses the Russian Avant-garde with a particular focus on the work of Kazimir Malevich, and the movements of suprematism and constructivism.
Discussion Leader: Alana Barrett
March 8th, 2021
Continued discussion on Malevich and suprematism, and how it has impacted contemporary artists and designers such as Zaha Hadid.
Discussion Leader: Alana Barrett
March 15, 2021
The Art Hang discusses Islamic geometric art.
Discussion Leader: Diego Melgar
March 22nd, 2021
Special guest speaker Pamela Ford from the Brooklyn Public Library lectures about the art and life of Romare Bearden.
Discussion Leader: Pamela Ford (guest speaker)
March 29th, 2021
A special pop-culture night for the Art Hang, with discussion based around the early life and career of Britney Spears, as well as topics such as sexuality, performance, femininity, tabloid culture, exploitation and more.
Discussion Leader: Alana Barrett