L'Atelier Yaffe's inaugural exhibition, titled  S E E N, considers how creative spirits reveal their presence on their own terms. In today's world, to be seen often means to be identifiable through perceptible ways of being. This type of characterization is often based on external contexts which indicate a physical presence or engagement. However, our identities are not limited to the digestible ways of being but usually exceed the perceptible expectations of those we engage with. The artists featured in this exhibition capture what it means to be seen on their own terms, all while rallying viewers to consider what it means to be seen by others in societal spaces.

L’Atelier Yaffe is honored to present a group exhibition curated by Connecticut-based curator Cornelia Stokes. Stokes’ curatorial practice is based on Pan-African practices and kinship, focusing on building community through the arts and philosophies of the Black diaspora. Looking to complexify the oversimplification of Blackness within mainstream culture, Stokes invests in opportunities to promote and explore the wide varieties of the Black experience.  

Contributing artists Ibrahem Hasan, Christopher Paul Jordan, Alim Ringgold, Samantha Wall, and SHAN Wallace use a range of materials and mediums to emphasize the dynamism of the communities they derive from and the necessity to be seen in order to find human and cultural connections. S E E N illuminates the underrepresented narratives of these artists, connects the nuanced realities of being Black and Brown, and recognizes the value in what we can see and what we do not, encouraging the latter to matter just as much.

More about the curator:

Cornelia Stokes has worked at Syracuse University, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, and Telfair Museums. She graduated from Spelman College with a BA in Art with a concentration in Curatorial Studies and received her MA in Pan-African Studies from Syracuse University, where her thesis focused on contemporary artist Amy Sherald. In 2023, Stokes co-curated NOT FOR SALE and RECLAMATION as a NXTHVN curatorial fellow.