Holyoke, MA (May 16, 2024) – The ArtSalon is a dynamic social evening of engaging presentations by established and emerging artists in the Pioneer Valley. The ArtSalon provides an opportunity for artists and designers of all mediums to present their work and ideas. Come meet and join the artists, creators, critics, and collectors in a friendly, social gathering of conversations about the arts in our community. Presenting artists are Raishad Glover, Mark Guglielmo, LOCULUS, Malaika Ross, and Andrew Zarou.
This month’s ArtSalonis supported in part by a grant from the Holyoke Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
The evening begins at 6:00pm and presentations start at 6:30pm.
Raishad Glover: Born in 1980 in Heidelberg, Germany, Raishad JaBar Glover’s educational journey spans prestigious institutions across the United States. He began at The Governor’s School for the Arts in Greenville, SC, then pursued his high school diploma at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts in New Orleans, LA. Subsequently, he attended Xavier University of LA, followed by the Tufts University School of Museum for Fine Arts in Boston, MA, where he earned a Studio Diploma. Finally, he completed his education at Yale University’s School of Art in New Haven, CT, obtaining an MFA. Identifying as a Conceptual artist, Glover explores various mediums including Lenticular Printing, Graphite Powder, Beeswax, Dura-trans/backlit Film, Analog/Digital Photography, Wool and LED Lights. Throughout his career, Glover has imparted his knowledge in various roles. He has taught Sustainable Architectural Design at Putney Student Travel, served as a Computing Specialist at Yale University Digital Media Center for the Arts, and taught Digital Design and Studio Art at Claflin University, among others. Presently, he serves as a professor instructing Graphic Design and Visual Art at Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, MA. Glover currently resides in Northampton, MA, and is represented by the George Gallery in Charleston, SC.
Mark Guglielmo: Contemporary artist Mark Guglielmo works at the intersection of current events, Western art, and social history to examine issues of race, class, migration, and power. Born and raised in New York in a large Italian American family, Guglielmo makes life-size, deconstructed, mixed media portraits to peel back the layers and get to the core of the human condition. Collage has been central to his practice and a bridge between his art and music. A former rapper and record producer immersed in hip-hop communities for 20 years, Guglielmo rapped with Eminem on their Top 10 hit “Green and Gold” (1998), shared the stage with KRS-One, Biz Markie, and Black Eyed Peas, and produced two dozen records and hundreds of instrumentals, which became the soundtrack to Pimp My Ride, Jersey Shore, Wimbledon, and America’s Next Top Model. Merging sight, sound, and story, his interdisciplinary approach synthesizes golden age hip-hop aesthetics: speaking truth to power while sampling, truncating, and reconfiguring existing materials into new compositions. Guglielmo’s work has been exhibited nationally at Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT (2023); Vermont Center for Photography, Brattleboro, VT (2022); The Loveland Museum, Loveland, CO (2019); Von Auersperg Gallery, Deerfield, MA (2019); Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, Boston, MA (2017), and The New York State Museum, Albany, NY (1988). Guglielmo has been awarded multiple prizes and grants, including a three-time Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts / MASS MoCA Assets for Artists Program Grantee (2021-2024); Mural Apprentice Program Artist Fellow, Fresh Paint Springfield, MA (2021); Public Art Commission, Chilson Recreation Center, Loveland, CO (2019); Deerfield Academy TEDx Talk (2019); The Williston Northampton School Artist-in-Residence (2018); and Young@Heart PrisonVision Program Visiting Artist at Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center in Chicopee, MA and Hampshire County Jail and House of Correction, Northampton, MA (2014-19).
LOCULUS is a dance collective founded in 2015 in Western Massachusetts. Currently LOCULUS is the creative platform of Olana Flynn and Madison Palffy. LOCULUS has performed throughout the northeast, their performances are often site specific and rooted in their engagement in DIY artist communities. Their work is often performed at events in bars, yards, and houses as well as in traditional concert dance spaces. These events, many of which are hosted, curated, and produced by LOCULUS, bring together visual artists, musicians, performers, and artists from a wide variety of media to create events that spark cross-disciplinary dialogue. In addition to their performance work, LOCULUS publishes The Loculus Journal and directs Loculus Studios in Holyoke, MA.
Malaika Ross is a Caribbean American visual artist in Western Massachusetts. She’s currently working on two collections of paintings which incorporate botanical and soil elements as part of a novel landscape which center black female figures. All her paintings incorporate shapes and patterns developed in her soil microbial drawings into contemporary ecology.
Andrew Zarou (b. 1971, Brooklyn, NY; lives and works in Florence, MA and Brooklyn, NY) received his BFA from Hampshire College. He has been an artist in residence at Yaddo, The Atlantic Center for the Arts and SÍM (Reykjavik, Iceland). He has received a grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation. Solo exhibitions include Views From the Paraffin Parapet, The Painting Center, New York, NY; Force Multiplier +, Schema, Queens, NY; and Slightly Warmer Than Warm, GRIDSPACE, Brooklyn, NY. Recent group exhibitions include Pulp, Holyoke, MA; 57W57 Arts, New York, NY; Transmitter, Queens, NY. His work has been written about in The New York Times, and Two Coats of Paint. Zarou will be participating in an upcoming group show at Bethanien in Berlin, Germany in the fall of 2024.
“This program is supported in part by a grant from the Holyoke Local Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.”
The ArtSalon is a fiscal project of A.P.E. Ltd. with ongoing support from individuals, foundations, state and local grants. Learn more at theartsalon.com