A Mixed Bag: The Artist Edition I

This special edition of A Mixed Bag features artists who have appeared on Contemporary Confections since it launched in 2006. Here's a look at what some of them are doing today (in no particular order).

Fahamu Pecou, American Dream'n, 2009. Acrylic and oil stick on canvas, 82 x 63 in. Courtesy the artist.

Fahamu Pecou (Pineapple Upside Down Cake) has created a new suite of paintings titled Whirl Trade. The works, inspired by the artist's travels abroad, address the impressions, interpretations and misconceptions of blackness that African descended communities perform for each other. Referencing the photos of West African photographer, Malick Sidibe, Pecou's mostly black and white images are, like earlier works, interpreted as faux magazine covers. Whirl Trade will debut at Get This! Gallery in Atlanta on November 14.

Check out the artist's blog, Passage of Right, where he recently posted an excellent message about attire and self-respect; keep up with him on Twitter; and jump to his website to see more images.

Jen P. Harris, Untitled (American Kiss 1), 2009. Ink on paper, 15 x 18 in. Courtesy the artist.

Jen P. Harris (Dark Chocolate) has garnered much deserved attention in recent months. After a slew of group exhibitions, she is preparing for a solo show at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts. In her new series of paintings and works on paper, she explores ideas about gender, sexual identity, the self and other. Conversations is on view December 4-March 21, 2010. The artist will give a public talk on December 9.

Harris's design company Black Sheep Heap has partnered with the non-profit organization CAMFED to design and print a t-shirt to raise awareness and funds for their efforts to educate girls and eradicate poverty in Africa. (Nice!) From December 16-20, visit Harris/Black Sheep Heap at the Brooklyn Flea GIFTED Market (Lafayette & E. 4th Street in Manhattan), where she plans to unveil her highly anticipated Veggie Ornaments.

Gabriel J. Shuldiner, Same Old Madness, 2009. Modified acrylic polymer emulsion, PBk9, alkyd resin, cement, oxidized sterling silver chain and two clasps. Overall dimensions variable, approximately 2 x 2 x .5 in. © Gabriel J. Shuldiner.

Gabriel J. Shuldiner (Red Velvet Cupcakes and Banana Pudding) has started his own line of jewelery inspired by his paintings. Though his Fluers De Mal collection is not scheduled to launch until spring 2010, there is already a waiting list for his Black Chunk necklaces, which appeared on a New York fashion runway earlier this year. (I have two of them and, trust me, they're hot!) A few limited-edition pieces are now available for purchase in the "curated" shop at David Barton Gym, Astor Place. Prototypes can be found on the artist's temporary blog.

In exhibition news, Shuldiner's paintings are included in the group exhibition Silent Spring at Gallery 151; closes November 25. In January, the luxury furniture store VASTU in Washington, D.C. will host a solo exhibition of the artist's work. And in 2010, Shuldiner will participate in Artist In The Marketplace (AIM) 30 at the Bronx Museum.

Brendan Fernandes, Foe, 2008. Video projection, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist.

Brendan Fernandes (Wine Gums) -- who is currently in residence at the Gyeonggi Creation Center in Seoul, Korea -- will participate in several shows over the next year, including: Invisible Homes at SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco (opens December 11); Accented at BRIC Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn (opens January 21); Agyu Vitrines at the Art Gallery of York University, Toronto (opens January 21); and Afrika Shop, a solo exhibition and project commissioned by Art in General, New York (November 2010). Visit Fernandes's website to browse through his latest projects.

Kambui Olujimi, The Clouds Are After Me, 2008. Acrylic, paper, and ink on vellum, 12 x 9 in. each. via Okay Great.

Kambui Olujimi (Italian Cheesecake or Cream Puffs) explores the anxieties and phobias that permeate the public and private sectors of our lives and nation in his upcoming exhibition, The Clouds Are After Me. Through a series of wanted posters, picturing clouds as the perpetrators, Olujimi draws parallels between the "elusive and ever present dangers" the we both run from and seek. The exhibition opens at Saatchi & Saatchi (375 Hudson St., NYC) on November 19. A public talk between the artist and curator Naomi Beckwith will be held December 10.

Wardell Milan, Drawings of Harlem (detail), 2009. Courtesy the artist.

Wardell Milan (Six Bars of Chocolate) has produced a series of drawings based on his photographs of Harlem; they are currently on view at the Studio Museum. Drawings of Harlem originated from Milan’s 2008 sketches created for the pages of Studio magazine. Upon completing the sketches, the museum invited Milan (their former artist in residence) to continue drawing throughout the following year. The resulting exhibition comprises more than forty works on paper. Drawings of Harlem is on view through March 2010. On January 14, the museum will host a public discussion between Milan and Harlem historian John Reddick.

Annysa Ng, Tea Silk and Porcelain VIII, 2008. Ink on paper, 30 x 22 in. Courtesy the artist.

Annysa Ng (Sweet Soup) is gearing up for her first solo exhibition in Europe. Her Eyes Closed explores topics of identity and reality as perceived through various states of consciousness. Her black and white drawings reflect the solitude of the unconscious state when uninterrupted by the five colors taught in ancient Chinese philosophy. In the philosophy of Lao Zi, the five colors are said to make people blind. In Dao, they are interpreted as the material world; black and white represents the unity of the Yin and the Yang. Her Eyes Closed opens at Holster Projects in London on November 19.

Agitators Collective, Who Will Save Beauty?, 2009. Hand-drawn wheat paste on side of building, 20 x 10 feet. Courtesy the artists.

Brendan Carroll (Chew Chips Ahoy I and II) and his crew Agitators Collective have created Who Will Save Beauty?, a multiform installation (hand-drawn wheat pastes, murals, shredded paper, hopscotch courts, and ink jet prints) at The 58 Gallery. Carroll says, "We tried to develop an iconography that represents Jersey City [where the gallery is located]. The icons range from the mundane -- donuts, dead pigeons, hair extensions, underwear -- to the fantastical -- minotaurs, devils, and monsters." The exhibition is on view November 13-30.

Carroll has also curated the exhibition Ann Flaherty: Land of Light and Shadows for the Jersey City Museum (JCM). Flaherty's paintings are installed in the lobby of the Majestic Theatre Condominiums, a rotating gallery featuring works by local artists, and curated by JCM staff. The show continues through November 28.