Pitroda Art announces the 16 artists participating in Movement: Art for Social Change, an annual juried exhibition that celebrates artists as champions of positive social change. Selected by a renowned panel of jurors composed of Aaron Bryant, Adenrele Sonariwo, Dexter Wimberly and Nancee Lyons, the 15 featured artworks respond to the theme of racial justice and equity. In addition, on May 20, Pitroda Art will launch an auction of the selected artworks in partnership with Mastercard on its Priceless.com platform, closing on June 17, with a portion of the purchase price donated to the National Urban League (NUL).
The artworks will also be projected onto iconic structures in five U.S. cities, starting with Washington, D.C. (May 13), Atlanta (May 20), Los Angeles (May 27), Chicago (June 3) and New York City (June 14).
SELECTED ARTISTS
Antoine Williams (USA), Àsìkò (UK), Evita Tezeno (USA), Heather Haynes (Canada), Kadiejra O’Neal (Barbados), Lloyd Foster (USA), Mark Wilson (USA) and Paola Zarate (USA), Nombuso Dowelani (South Africa), Paul Ogunlesi (Nigeria), Penda Diakité (USA-Mali), Rohan Patrick(USA), Segun Aiyesan (Nigeria), Tim Davis (USA), Tsoku Maela (South Africa), Winfred Nana Amoah (Ghana).
In 2020 Pitroda Art invited artists around the world to submit two-dimensional artworks tackling racial justice. The result was overwhelming: over 500 entries from 175 artists in 33 countries, and an array of powerful narratives and interpretations of Black history, racial identity and the current realities of the Black diaspora.
Mastercard has joined Pitroda Art as the global presenting sponsor of Movement: Art for Change as an extension of the brand’s ongoing commitment to furthering racial equity and to advance opportunity for all. Mastercard is working to build a more inclusive economy for everyone, everywhere, by creating paths to financial security, helping small businesses to grow, assisting cities through an inclusive recovery and helping close the persistent racial wealth and opportunity gaps that exist across the U.S.
The collection of artworks selected by the jury will be up for sale in a live auction hosted on Mastercard’s platform, Priceless.com from May 20 to June 17, with the preview available from May 13. Twenty-five percent of the purchase price will be donated to the National Urban League (NUL), a historic civil rights organization dedicated to economic empowerment, equality and social justice.
“The culmination of COVID-19 and the issues that toppled out of the pandemic moved us to pivot our platform to showcase art as a tool for social change,” states Sonja Miokovic, Co-founder and Global Director of Pitroda Art. “The components of Movement have been in orbit since the very inception of Pitroda Art in 2017.”
