Curator’s Corner: Derrick Beasley
During challenging times, when it may feel difficult to know what to say or what to do, art can serve as a communicator... as a catalyst for our voices and for our actions. While our museum has been closed, we have aimed for our weekly Curator's Corner to highlight the voices and work of our exhibiting artists — not the voice of the Curator.
Reflecting on current events, we'd like to bring your attention to the voice and work of exhibiting artist Derrick Beasley, who was highlighted in one of our recent video tours of "Branching Out: Works in Wood from North Carolina."
Derrick is a multidisciplinary artist based out of Durham, NC. His art is informed by his background in policy and community organizing, as well as his identity as a black man from the US South. Derrick uses science and speculative fiction to wrestle with the traumas and complexities of those identities and the plight of humanity more broadly.
I am Derrick Beasley. Nashville, Tennessee born and Durham, North Carolina raised. I am a visual artist creating at the intersection of community and my imagination. My formal education includes a Bachelors in Sociology from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and a Masters in Public Administration and Policy Analysis from Georgia State University. My professional and civic background is in education, environmental and mobility justice. My artistic education includes lots of independent study, mentorship, practice, and a class at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke. I am a self taught artist that approaches my creative practice with the same rigor as I did my undergraduate and graduate studies.
I create out of a sense of responsibility to my community and a desire to answer three persisting questions. 'What would make this world better?', 'How can I work to create it today?', and 'What do I need to heal in myself to create it?' My work is informed by the intersection of my identities as a Black, Cisgendered, heterosexual male, my self proclaimed nerd-dom, and my obsession with science fiction and being from the American South.
I use installation, photography, graphic design, woodwork, cultural space-making, and community organizing as mediums for my creative work. Through these mediums, I facilitate conversations between the individual and their own imagination. I take the familiar and abstract it enough to stretch our perception of what is possible. In doing this, I imagine new worlds where we are less concerned with validating our humanity than exploring its limitless potential within it. I want to show that the radical new world so many of us are fighting for is actually a basic human experience. My hope as an artist is for individuals experiencing my art to reflect on their existence and expand their conceptualization of what is possible.
We are honored to be featuring Derrick's work in our exhibition, "Branching Out." If you'd like to learn more about Derrick, please visit his website at www.DerrickBeasley.art.
#BlackLivesMatter
#AmplifyMelanatedVoices
Image Credit: Photograph of Derrick Beasley. Courtesy of the artist.
Image Credit: Derrick Beasley (Durham, NC). "To be changed...," 2018. Acrylic paint on wood relief carving. Courtesy of the artist.
Image Credit: Derrick Beasley (Durham, NC). "Every Nigga," 2018. Acrylic paint on wood relief carving. Courtesy of the artist.