April Bey

April Bey / Atlantica

On Atlantica, glitter is our currency. 

Atlantica was once a nameless planet and detailed fabrication told to me by my Black father as a way to explain racism and colorism—why I looked different than my mother who was white and why children at school made fun of my hair that stood up instead of laying down. He told me we would always be different because we were aliens sent from another planet to observe and report on Earth. I call this planet Atlantica. 

Made in another universe that parallels, critiques, celebrates and satirizes our own, Atlantica occupies space and rewrites Earth’s history. Colonial Swag, a high fashion luxury brand on Atlantica uses fully-sustainable, ethically-mined Colonialism from Earth’s developing countries to create beautiful priceless pieces of fashion. Beyoncé and Solange were redesigned into Earth’s history—with creative license of course—as the primary leaders in the Women’s Suffragette Movement. We can clone ourselves and limbs too if needed. 

Atlantica is home to visionaries, Womanist Matriarchies, Black vampire women who leave you with dreams in exchange for sustenance, Earth analysis, Black thought, telepathic food replicators and queer adventures in design. Atlantica is a joyous AfroFuturist meme and a serious paean to Earth’s African diaspora’s resilience in the face of supremacy, colonialism and neocolonialism.  

APRIL BEY grew up in The Bahamas (New Providence) and now resides and works in Los Angeles, CA as a visual artist and art educator. Bey’s interdisciplinary artwork is an introspective and social critique of American and Bahamian culture, contemporary pop culture, feminism, generational theory, social media, AfroFuturism, AfroSurrealism, post-colonialism and constructs of race within supremacist systems.  

Bey’s work is in the collection of The California African American Museum, The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, The Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Fullerton College Art Gallery, Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA, and more. Bey has exhibited in biennials NE7, NE8, and NE9 in The Bahamas. Bey has also exhibited internationally in Italy, Spain, and Accra, in Ghana, West Africa.

Bey has launched 5 solo exhibitions: Picky Head at Liquid Courage Gallery in Nassau, Bahamas, COMPLY at Coagula Curatorial in Chinatown, Los Angeles, MADE IN SPACE at Band of Vices Gallery in West Adams, a large survey of work spanning several years, Welcome to Atlantica at Fullerton College Art gallery and most recently a solo presentation with UPFOR Gallery at UNTITLED ART ONLINE Art Fair. 

Bey is both a practicing contemporary artist and art educator having taught a controversial course at Art Center College of Design called Pretty Hurts analyzing process-based art and Beyoncé hashtag faux feminism.  Bey is currently a tenured professor at Glendale College.

Visit the artist’s website: https://www.april-bey.com/