Genesis Tramaine: Black Woman University (2020)

Print: Archival Pigment Print
Size: 610 x 432 mm (24 x 17 in)
Edition of 50
Signed and numbered

Genesis Tramaine is a Black queer artist whose Southern Baptist upbringing plays a major role in her examination of Blackness in contemporary art. Her arresting and invariably spiritual portraits materialize from monochromatic backdrops that showcase the artist's masterful use of color. In this exclusive edition, a striking face, enveloped in a visual collage of mark-making, emerges from an expanse of deep crimson red. Black Woman University is, foremost, an homage to Black women and their endless wisdom. "I come from a family of women who were teachers and I have never met a black woman who hasn't taught me something," the artist explains.

Black Woman University, is the artist's first-ever limited edition print. Each print from the edition of 50 is signed and numbered by the artist. Proceeds from the sale of this work will support programming, fellowships and grants at the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA).

Genesis Tramaine's work focuses on the shape and definition of the American Black Face. Her arts' exaggerated features capture the spirited emotions of the untapped, underrepresented soul of Black people through a mixture of collage, acrylic and oil based paintings.

Ms. Tramaine's faces are layers of real moments and imagined metaphors. She explores ethics and insanity, the mundane and the inhumane, spirituality, sexuality and sentimentality.

She digests the everyday and regurgitates it as work that evokes dÃ©jÃ vu, beckoning memories of past lives and glimpses of undiscovered futures. The blueprint of Genesis' style is rooted in strong mix of 1980's urban New York graffiti, and imagined images of gospel hymns sung on Sunday morning during church.

Born in Brooklyn, NY Genesis is an Urban Expressionist painter who is excited about all things art, fashion, culture & education. Her passion translates, as she creates abstract portraits of men and women who transcend gender, color, and social structures as political or representative.

Genesis earned her M.S from Pace University and B.S from Utica College of Syracuse University.

Tramaine has exhibited nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at The Tree House, Governors Island, NYC, The Salt Space, Chelsea, NYC, The Raging Spoon Gallery, Toronto, Canada, AOF Gallery, NYC, and many others.