Danièle Dennis and Shantel Miller: Skin Glowing in the Moonlight

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Danièle Dennis, "Try a Little Tenderness," 2015

Opening reception: Thursday, April 13, 2017, 7-10pm for Latitude 53 members and guests.

In "Skin Glowing in the Moonlight" Ontario artists Shantel Miller and Danièle Dennis present two viewpoints that confront the barriers and stereotypes surrounding the perception of Black identity in society today. Dennis’ video performance work in "Colour Me Bad" investigates race, culture and identity through blackening her own body with makeup, markers and dirt. And in Try a Little Tenderness, she exposes the contradictions forced on Black women to soften their appearance by covering her body with pink cotton candy. 

Miller’s “Side Profile” series uses classical oil painting to depict Black men in mug shot poses. By using this imagery Miller unravels how politics and surreptitious stereotypes have affected and now obstruct individual Black identity in men.

These works appear alongside each other to explore the issues around Black identity in society today.