‘We Just Still’ brings the hood to Urban Arts Space

In conceiving “We Just Still,” curators Iyana Hill and Jonathan Johnson said that Raymonn “Sugar Ray” Daniels was the first name that sprung to mind, the longtime Columbus airbrush artist having never before exhibited in a gallery setting.

“And we were talking to him one day where it was like, ‘This is your first time showing in a gallery, but when we think about artists in Columbus, more people own your pieces than anyone else,’” said Hill, who joined Johnson for an interview at Urban Arts space ahead of the opening reception for “We Just Still,” which takes place from 3-6 p.m. on Saturday, May 30. “And it’s like their closet becomes his gallery. Their body becomes his gallery. Even their yards, because he’ll do graduation banners. … Ray, in particular, talks a lot about being a part of these special moments in other’s lives. So, to see him have this special moment has been great, because at first he didn’t think his work could be considered fine art or even be in the gallery, which is a problem when you think about that Euro-centric notion of what is being accepted as fine art.”

In addition to a striking series of airbrushed paintings of prevalent figures in Black culture, Sugar Ray also created a large-scale self-portrait – his first, Hill said – and airbrushed a pair of columns with the faces of people known to the artist. These beaming black-and-white character studies are similar to the paintings that adorn the wall of the North Side convenience store that currently serves as the Sugar Ray’s studio and are meant in part to make the gallery space feel more intimately and immediately familiar.

Both Hill and Johnson said they curated the show with this idea in mind, aware that the hood culture the exhibition is designed to celebrate is often created by artists who can exist at more of a remove from these types of gallery settings. Johnson, for one, described the idea of visiting a gallery or a museum growing up where and how he did as “foreign,” and then added, “but that’s because it was foreign to everyone around me.”

“We Just Still” aims to address this disconnect, allowing the people who grew up in these communities to see their experiences reflected back at them. Witness, for one, an installation in which the curators recreated a multipurpose basement living space complete with a couch, a 1980s-era tube television, a computer desk, and a washer and dryer. “And the basement really becomes that space where we’re chilling together, watching movies, TV shows,” Hill said. “You have your laptop down there, the laundry.”

“That’s my mom’s ironing board,” said Johnson, who then traveled back in time to the years he would post up in the basement and watch “Judge Mathis” and “106 & Park.” “And I remember using that [ironing board] when I was a kid, creasing my pants. So, the idea is to bring those memories back for people, like, ‘Man, I remember my basement!’”

Though consisting of a diversity of artists working in a wealth of mediums – the exhibition features video installations, evocative street photography, large-scale oil paintings, and even a sculpture made from discarded tires woven together to resemble a giant cornrow – there are a number of threads that remain consistent throughout the space, including themes of community and family, and an embrace of creating with the tools available at hand.

“Innovation is required, especially when resources may be limited,” said Hill, who wanted to make sure the exhibition captured the socio-economic status of the hood and the creativity fueled by these supposed limitations.

This idea is reflected most cleanly in works such as the massive tire braid created by Ronald Baker, a Bronx-based artist Hill said often utilizes sourced or found materials, as well as in a series of slice-of-life photos by Raja Green. “And all of these prints were developed for $50 at FedEx, and it’s very thin paper, where it’s not even traditional photo paper,” Hill said. “So, it becomes, how can we be innovative using frames we already have, found objects, tires.”

And yet, “We Just Still” is also deeply rooted in joy, which echoes in a series of large-scale paintings by Diamond Young that reverberate with such vivid life you can practically hear her canvases. 

“When we think about the hood, we have a whole different experience, because we’re from it,” Johnson said. “And we’re not thinking of that stereotypical negativity and all that bs. We’re thinking about the memories, the really good memories. And then it becomes, how do we translate that?”

Distance can also bring additional perspective, with both Hill and Johnson acknowledging they have a different view of the hood now than they did when they were younger, and which reflects an overriding sense of gratitude. 

“Even with it, I want to say that my parents did everything they could to make sure we had a fun experience. And when I think about my childhood, I had a ball. But there were those moments where you were like, ‘Oh, I can’t do this, because we don’t have this,’” Hill said. “So, being from the hood, or struggling in some sense, it gives you a different type of grit. But I also think that’s where I found love.”