Gherdai Hassell 1 of 5 Artists on Artsy Radar March 2022
Via Artsy March 4, 2022
“Artists on Our Radar” is a monthly series produced by the Artsy team. Utilizing our art expertise and access to Artsy data, we highlight five artists who have our attention. To make our selections, we’ve determined which artists made an impact this past month through new gallery representation, exhibitions, auctions, art fairs, or fresh works on Artsy.
Gherdai Hassell uses archival materials to create dazzling collages of Black women that reflect her own diasporic experiences growing up in Bermuda and educated in China. Heavily influenced by Afrofuturism, Hassell culls and remixes the past to generate images of the future. Eyes and lips are cut out of the pages of a magazine and framed by watery swatches of ink influenced by Chinese calligraphy. Sunglasses, hats, and clothes are fabricated from a patchwork of found textures. By piecing together disparate fragments, Hassell affirms an expansive, multifaceted existence where the sum is greater than its parts.
Gherdai Hassell uses archival materials to create dazzling collages of Black women that reflect her own diasporic experiences growing up in Bermuda and educated in China. Heavily influenced by Afrofuturism, Hassell culls and remixes the past to generate images of the future. Eyes and lips are cut out of the pages of a magazine and framed by watery swatches of ink influenced by Chinese calligraphy. Sunglasses, hats, and clothes are fabricated from a patchwork of found textures. By piecing together disparate fragments, Hassell affirms an expansive, multifaceted existence where the sum is greater than its parts.
Hassell’s work is currently on view at TERN Gallery in the group exhibition “Stick It,” which highlights the collage-based practices of Hassell, Cydne Jasmin Coleby, BBird Ronald Cyrille, and Steven Schmid. Hassell received an MFA in fine arts from the China Academy of Fine Art. This past January, the artist was shortlisted for the Manchester Open Awards and was also selected to participate in the 13th edition of the African Biennial of Photography.—Shannon Lee
To read the full article click here.