This painting depicts the end of the second act, of a three part piece, where a grieving African American sits on stage next to an empty chair - that in act one held his friend. Act two of this tragedy deals with the disparities in America’s criminal justice system. Young, unarmed, non-suicidal victims of deadly force are thirteen times more likely to be Black than White. Nearly half of those serving life sentences are African Americans, and Black people make up almost 42% of death row inmates despite only making up only 13.4% of the population. This work compels the audience to stop watching and intervene in the third 'act.' Allow empathy to motivate activism and become involved as allies to the drama Black Americans are dealing with daily.
Artist +-
Melody Croft
Croft credits her artistic style to the hundreds of young children she taught in her 30 years as a teacher. The daily interactions with children, and immersion into their concrete thinking, rests on her canvases set into a story. The use of text cites children storybooks where picture and text go hand-in-hand.
The presented works were created in the spirit of allyship with focus on the Black Lives Matter movement. As a whole, these oil paintings create an empathic narrative sparked from Croft's many years forming emotional connections with young African American children as a teacher. The heart of each work’s narrative is 'too,' meaning 'also'. It is the absent but implied word at the end of Black Lives Matter - and the artistic lens of each painting.
Since 2012, Croft's work has been in numerous exhibitions in Georgia, the Southeast, the Midwest, and New York City. In the summer of 2021, she had her first major solo exhibition entitled, TOO: An Orientation of Spirit. Later that year, NYC Phoenix Art Collective in New York City invited Croft to present this same exhibition virtually on their website. Croft's paintings have been published in several periodicals, newspapers, and as the cover for a book of poetry entitled, A Thousand Scattered Moments. Croft is a self-taught artist. She lives in Athens, Georgia and commutes daily to her art studio in Jefferson, Georgia.
Melody Croft’s work explores the notion of humanity with a lens of subjectively to observe human emotions. Her portraits and narrative paintings converge the real and the imagined to examine the status quo and social norms of modern life. Her paintings invite viewers to look and consider the psychological, sociological, or emotional complexities of race, gender, age, and culture.
Donation +-
Based on our agreement with the artist, 15% of the pre-VAT price excluding frames will be donated to support the Racial Justice Network.