Art is one of the most important forms that has the ability to connect people from all over the world. The stroke of a brush, the drag of a pencil or even the molding of clay has had the ability to bring together teens from all over Metro Atlanta for this exhibition.
The title of the exhibition is “Parallelograms,” which is a term commonly used in Mathematics. It means a figure with four parallel sides. The submissions for this gallery were open to the artist’s interpretation — and interpret it they did, in many different ways.
Some submissions included portraits draw in pencil or personified in paint. Others reflected the current injustices facing Americans, bringing to life the Black Lives Matter movement.
VOX thanks the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs for their generous support of this free art programming for teens in Atlanta!
The gallery has art pieces that may seem to fall all over the place, but if you take a deeper look into the artistry, we hope you’ll see that they indeed work together because they are the authentic voices of teenagers in our city. Their work is below.
A Friend by Kaitlyn Farmer.
I painted a portrait of a close friend while I was learning graphing in art class. It is simply an acrylic realism piece of my friend, whom I love very much, and her hair seemed like a great challenge. I think my friend is a big symbol of beauty in my life, and I wanted to capture that joyful beauty in her image.Abstract Botanicals by Hope Lennox.
This was my first time working with gouache. Most of my work is very precise, so I wanted to try a more fluid and abstract approach, and I am very happy with the result!. Teen artwork is displayed at Gallery 1280 at the Woodruff Arts Center. Blacker The Berry by Piera Moore.
A tribute to black beauty.Bruised and Beaten by Kaitlyn Farmer.
My makeup is an art form I love very much. I created a bruise/beat-up kind of look using grease paint and fake blood. I used myself as a canvas in the picture to show that there are more mediums than paint and clay. I wanted to express that even though I was not physically hurt, by simply using makeup humans can be quite gullible. If I told someone that it was real, they could definitely believe me.BW1 by Kristen Wilder.
I drew this last summer when I could not sleep at night. The only real meaning behind this how great things can come out of boredom. I think the design is really cool and all the lines have a cohesive movement.Creative Paradise by Dayan Jones.
Creative Paradise represents that there is no real paradise or escape from reality.Dear Reggie Watts by Hilary Aldana.
As I show my love for the lovable Reggie Watts and his creative weirdness.Dragon Festival by Carmen Mitchell.
This drawing is about fancy Japanese dragons lingering in a young artist's imagination. I used cool shades to lighten the mood and a simple background so that it would be easy for viewers to use their imagination to picture these simply styled dragons in an environment that they created,Fish Scale by Piera Moore.
A representation of balance and unity.Flames by Cameron Carmen.
I began working on this piece when winter was in full swing. The dullness of the weather made it difficult to find inspiration, after seeing an installation in New Orleans titled 'You Belong Here.' I felt that flames of hope were a necessary addition.Golden by Piera Moore.
A juxtaposition of peace and violence.Harmonious Mezzo by Destini Butler.
Harmonious Mezzo is conveying how the diversity of people's backgrounds can come together and make something absolutely beautiful and vibrant. It shows that people if different backgrounds can come together in harmony.Lips of the Unknown by Jaylen Alicea.
Lips of the Unknown was inspired by my girlfriend's lips, showing love, passion and happiness.Marie Antoinette by Hope Lennox.
I am a huge fan of Sophia Coppola and for the longest time I had wanted to paint Marie Antoinette. I chose to depict the queen in a more modern way by incorporating emojis I thought she would use, desserts she would eat, and designer jewelry she would wear.Nyan Cat by Kevin Gonzalez.
Inspired by the 2011 meme by Christopher Torres and a speed drawing by YouTuber SteveRayBro, this artwork represents the explosive and colorful ideas that cloud our head and when released leave behind a trail only the creator can understand. Everyone's creativity is different; some might not understand or agree with it, but then again creativity has it's own adventure when placed on a blank sheet of paper.Plastic Jumpman by Rem Hellmann.
My friend Miles, and I created this in art class. We were assigned an art project to create a figure doing some sort of action using only tape and confetti. We decided to replicate Michael Jordan's most famous dunk of all time.Please Don't Shoot Me by Hilary Aldana.
Darnell O'nell faces what many black men face today as they encounter police officers and racists. Darnell's only words are "please don't shoot me." He cries as he imagines the tears his mother will soon be weeping out. He is a gentle soul, but that doesn't matter.Roots by Katie Krantz.
This piece is an abstract painting about moving to Georgia. For a while, I only viewed it as a temporary home, but eventually I began to invest enough of myself in my life here to create an attachment. I started putting down roots. The painting represents that even with attachments to a new place, you do not lose all of the color of the old.Sissy by Katie Krantz.
This work was created because I have always wanted a big sister. This girl may not be mine, but she is someone's sister and that is very important, because it means that someone out there gets to experience something so nice. That person may never have anything else special, but their older sister will always be in their heart.Teyanna Taylor by Clarke Potts.
I love to draw faces, and I pay close attention to the eyes. I love to give the eyes an energy that draws the viewer into the thoughts of the subject. I chose to draw a portrait of the R&B singer Teyana Taylor because she is a fresh voice for my generation, but sings about love like she's from the distant past.Trash by Akobi Williams.
I found it by a dumpster and added my thing to it.Ultramarine by Cameron Carmen.
Maybe one day I will stop using blue paint.Untitled by Akobi Williams.Wash by Kristen Wilder.
This painting reminds me of the beach, which is one of my favorite places to be, but to go with the apparent theme of emotion I think this is a small spectrum from cool to warm. It has a nice flow and energy about it even if it is just a wash. Watery Feelings by Kristen Wilder.
I probably sketched this without thinking late one night because when I found the sketch while looking through my sketchbook for inspiration I had no recollection of drawing it. I loved the expression in the face even though there was not much detail. So after transferring it to better paper, I added the watercolor for a psychedelic feel and because i see things, like emotion, in color. So every color in the painting represents a certain emotion or state of mind. I put the darker colors above her head to represents the cloudiness of the mind and the heavy sadness that adolescence can bring. Also, the sharpie design on her chest is supposed to represent clothes, but could be interpreted as memories that are stuck with her. Her lips are an indigo color to symbolize the sad things of which she speaks. The greens and pinks on the left and right illustrate the goodness and happiness around her and even though everything around her is great she still focuses on the bleakness around her. I decided to photograph the painting in grass because I like the earthy feel and the strong green. Incidentally, after finishing the painting, I looked back at it and realized it was kind of a self-portrait.
This June, teens who attended the Georgia Teen Institute event shared their voices in compelling ways. You can watch them share their voices, listen to them share their voices, or see photos of them sharing their voices below. Today, we bring you a gallery of the art a few teens at the GTI event crafted…
