Enter Viewing Room
BAND Offsite will open on Saturday, July 20th and run until Friday, August 9th.
Black Artists’ Networks in Dialogue (BAND) Gallery and Cultural Centre is a charitable organization dedicated to supporting, documenting and showcasing the artistic and cultural contributions of Black artists and cultural workers in Canada and internationally.
BAND Offsite is an initiative focused on creating opportunities to connect Black artists with new audiences, serving both as a platform for these artists to showcase their work and an opportunity for new relationships. BAND believes in the transformative power of art to inspire, enlighten, and educate and we are excited to partner with Nicholas Metivier Gallery to present a compelling group exhibition featuring early-career Black artists including Elicser Elliott, Hazelle Palmer, Jamie Ellis Pasquale, and Audra Townsend. This initiative highlights our commitment to fostering new connections and amplifying Black voices in the art world.
Elicser Elliott is a Toronto-based multimedia artist. Most widely recognized as one of Canada’s leading aerosol artists, his one-of-a-kind murals and graffiti works have adorned streets, sidewalks, and buildings across Toronto and further abroad in Central and South America and South Africa. His character-based, narrative imagery conveys expressive perceptions of a range of subjects from local children on the street to late pop-culture icons such as Michael Jackson and J Dilla. Elliott has participated in international mural festivals in Honolulu, Hawaii and Rochester, New York, while his works have been included in numerous exhibitions, including at the Royal Ontario Museum, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Hazelle Palmer, based in Toronto, draws inspiration from her Caribbean heritage and childhood memories, reflected in her dynamic use of rich, rustic tones. Exploring the role of color in shaping identity, she employs texture and patterns to animate her subjects. Her artistic style spans from abstract to collage to figurative depictions, always embracing imperfection as a symbol of the challenges of fitting in. With over 30 years of experience and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, Palmer's work has graced the covers of publications like Eyeing the North Star: Directions in African-Canadian Literature, edited by George Clarke Elliot (1997) and Palmer’s own children’s book Tales from the Gardens and Beyond (1995). Her most recent solo exhibition Lived Experience was in May 2022 at the 2Gallery in Picton, Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada.
Jamie Ellis Pasquale is a multidisciplinary artist whose work delves into themes of ancestral memory, urban environments, cultural histories, and spirituality rooted in African and Afro-indigenous traditions. Through his practice, he sparks conversations on environmental issues like ecology and urbanism, exploring the impacts of growth and decline on global mega cities. Pasquale's oeuvre combines abstract and figurative forms, reflecting his observations of nature and contemporary society. His artistic journey began with landscape studies at the University of Greenwich, further inspired by research from The Harvard School of Graduate Design. Having traveled extensively across Europe, the Americas, and parts of Asia, Pasquale examines urban design's effects on inhabitants and countries. Through mediums such as painting, photography, film, sculpture, and music, he explores the intersection of art and spirituality, seeking to create better urban spaces for present and future generations.
Audra Townsend, a British-born Jamaican Canadian abstract and mixed media artist based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, combines her background in Sociocultural Anthropology with her passion for art. She sees art as a reflection of humanity's curiosity about the world. Through intuitive and tactile approaches, Townsend explores the human experience, employing crisscrossing lines and various materials like sand, stone, and even Shin Noodle packaging. She holds an MA in Anthropological Research from the University of Manchester and honours degrees in Social-Cultural Anthropology and Administrative Studies from York University, Toronto.
Joséphine Denis, born in Haiti and raised in Port-au-Prince and New York, is a curator and writer. Her work advocates for Black diasporic art and encourages deeper engagement to foster a nuanced understanding of the specific contexts surrounding contemporary practices. Rooted in community dialogue, her work is guided by her kin. Recent exhibitions include Kosisochukwu Nnebe: The Seeds We Carry at SAW Center, Ottawa, Jah Grey: Putting Ourselves Together, BAND x Contact Photography Festival, and Amartey Golding: The comfort of embers, The Power Plant Gallery of Contemporary Art. Her writing appears in The Power Plant Publications, RELATIONS: Diaspora and Painting (Phi, Hirmer, 2020), Pierre Francois Ouellette art Contemporain, Ada x, among others. Denis has worked at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Tkaronto, SBC Gallery of Contemporary Art, Tiohtià:ke, Serpentine Galleries, London, and Faurschou Foundation, Beijing.
To learn more about BAND and other upcoming exhibitions and programming visit www.bandgallery.com.
