Draft:Kyng Rhodes
Kyng Rhodes | |
|---|---|
_-_sitting_(cropped).jpg) | |
| Alma mater | Vincennes University, 2016 |
| Occupation | Artist |
| Known for | Black Lives Matter street mural |
| Website | https://www.kyngrhodes.com/ |
Nathaniel Rhodes, known as Kyng Rhodes, is an American painter, graphic designer and muralist based in Indianapolis. His work has been featured in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Flower Show, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the 2024 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials, and at BUTTER art fair. A member of the Eighteen Collective, he contributed to Black Lives Matter street mural (Indianapolis).[1][2][3]
Early life and education
[edit]Rhodes' artistic endeavors started at the age of 3 after he rifled through his mother's cosmetic products and proceeded to use them as his medium when drawing on the walls and furniture of his home. In an interview with Newfields, Rhodes noted that his mother believed these pieces to be better than the artwork you might expect your average 3-year-old to produce.[2] Rhodes graduated from Arsenal Tech High School in 2012 and went on to attend college at Vincennes University. In college, Rhodes pursued graphic design intending to find a happy medium between corporate and creative work. Rhodes graduated from Vincennes University in 2016.[4]
Career
[edit]After college Rhodes began his graphic design career through freelance work before being hired on to work at a marketing company. During the summer of 2020, Rhodes participated in one of Indianapolis' Black Lives Matter protests while holding up a painting he created depicting a fist. Here he was discovered by Malina Simone Bacon and Alan Bacon, the co-founders of GANGGANG, who offered to purchase his painting. Rhodes rejected their offer at the time, however, the trio still stayed in touch which led to Rhodes' invitation to participate in the Black Lives Matter street mural in Indianapolis.[2]
Rhodes painted the letter "B" in the Indianapolis Black Lives Matter street mural in the summer of 2020. For his depiction of the letter, he was inspired by Kente fabric to create the pattern of colors that he used to symbolize privileged lives (green), unprivileged lives (red), and the system in between them (blue). The artist also included a red handprint on the letter to symbolize all the lives lost in Indianapolis to police brutality along with an Afro pick behind the handprint to symbolize how African American's hair and lives are "coarser". The marketing company Rhodes still worked for at the time fired him after the mural's completion claiming that he was bringing negative attention to their company and causing them to lose clients.[5] With all the new artistic opportunities arising for Rhodes after the Black Lives Matter street mural he decided to trade in his graphic design career with that of a full-time artist.[6]
The Eighteen Collective, the eighteen artists who created the Black Lives Matter street mural in Indianapolis, were invited to the Indianapolist Museum of Art at Newfields to have a year-long exhibit that would display their individual pieces outside of the mural. This exhibit, titled "We. The Culture," was up in the museum from September 2022 until September 2023, and it included two paintings by Rhodes: "Colored King" and "Woman in Paradise".[7][1][8] Rhodes' collaboration with Newfields continued after the museum was chosen to be a guest exhibitor at the Philidelphia Flower Show. For this show the museum brought on Rhodes to create a mural that would highlight the concept of art in nature, which the museum had attempted to embody through their 2017 rebrand.[9] Rhodes depicted birds spreading seeds over the garden and into places where they preciously were not "allowed to grow" as a symbolic example of how he expected to see Newfields' connection with the underrepresented artists in the community grow.[10]
The letter included a red hand print that was later featured in other works by the artist.[2]
In 2023, the Philadelphia Flower Show included a 75 foot mural by Rhodes. The mural featured a colorful garden scene.[10]
In 2024, Rhodes was one of five artists selected for the All Lanes Lead to Indy Art exhibit to welcome attendees of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Indianapolis.[3]
His work was featured in the 2023 and 2024 editions of the BUTTER Art Fair. In a reflection on BUTTER's impact on the careers and visibility of Black artists, Rhodes note that the fair gives Black artists "a chance to tell our stories."[11]
In 2024, Rhodes was one of several artists featured in an exhibition, "Self-serenades." The event was billed as a collaboration between the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and GANGGANG.[12]
Work
[edit]- "Colored King" and "Woman of Paradise," We. The Culture at Newfields (2022-2023)[7]
- PHS Philadelphia Flower Show Mural (2023)[10]
- Work in Progress: Conversations about American Art (2023)[13]
- "Monkey See, Monkey Do," BUTTER Art Fair, 2023.[14]
- "Reasons" at the Indiana Memorial Union art collection, Indiana University, Bloomington.[15]
References
[edit]- ^ a b McGOWAN, CHLOE (2023-03-02). "'Taking up space': How the Eighteen Art Collective is changing the narrative". Indianapolis Recorder. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
- ^ a b c d Herndon, Natalya (2023-04-25). "Kyng Rhodes: Local Legend". discovernewfields.org. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
- ^ a b Lindquist, Dave (2024-04-12). "Five artists selected to create visuals for U.S. Olympic Swim Trials". Indianapolis Business Journal. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
- ^ Lindquist, David (2024-08-30). "The Benefits of Butter: Visual Artists Say Event Altered Their Career Trajectories". Indianapolis Business Journal. 45 (28): 1A, 22A, 23A – via EBSCOhost.
- ^ The Children's Museum of Indianapolis (2021-08-05). Art of Protest Mural Artist - Kyng Rhodes. Retrieved 2024-11-22 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Meet Kyng Rhodes". canvasrebel.com. 2023-01-16. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
- ^ a b "We. The Culture: Works by the Eighteen Art Collective". The Indianapolis Museum of Art Collection. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
- ^ Bongiovanni, Domenica (2022-09-23). "'We. The Culture': Inside the yearslong wait for Newfields show on Black artist collective". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
- ^ Bongiovanni, Domenica. "New campus name and 'dramatic change' are coming to the Indianapolis Museum of Art". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
- ^ a b c McGOWAN, CHLOE (2023-03-02). "Mural by local Black artist to go to Philadelphia Flower Show". Indianapolis Recorder. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
- ^ "'A chance to tell our stories' | A look at this weekend's BUTTER art fair". wthr.com. 2024-08-29. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
- ^ McGOWAN, CHLOE (2024-10-15). "ISO and GANGGANG team up for exhibition at Hilbert Circle Theatre". Indianapolis Recorder. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
- ^ JACKSON, JADE (2023-06-01). ""Work in Progress: Conversations about American Art" at Newfields". Indianapolis Recorder. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
- ^ "See the best of BUTTER Fine Art Fair 2023 at the Stutz". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
- ^ "IMU art collection continues to diversify with 3 new paintings added". news.iu.edu. Retrieved 2024-08-31.