Conceptual Materials Social Practice Artist
Please join me for the reception and artist talk on Sunday March 10th as we celebrate the wonderful complexity of women through the visual arts.
DATE: March 10th, 1:00-4:00pm
LOCATION: The Gallery Space, 1670 Irving Street, Rahway NJ
On Saturday (3/2), I will be participating in a conversation about gender, woman, femme, and feminism today at the Brooklyn Museum.. Please join me.
Social norms have long dictated gender, from their public facing meanings to their private impact. Mother. Shorty. Wifey. Bitch. Woman. Trans. Feminist — and other various descriptors for the female sex gradient, also come diabolically attached to a long antiquated idea of femininity, whose trappings and boundaries suffocate rather than uplift. This is especially true for women of color, whether cis or non-binary, who most often face the corrosive extremes of these imposed values at either end of the spectrum.
Through MoCADA’s next exhibit, Give Me Body! Femme Re-divined, MoCADA seeks to unravel how far society has come in our understanding, recognition, and celebration of the femme form –mind, body, and soul– as a spiritual rite. Our greatest wish is to further unpack and expand this necessary conversation to deliver a new vision for the future.
Date: Saturday, March 2, 2019
Time: 6:00-7:30pm
Location:Â Brooklyn Museum: 200 Eastern Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Mixed Media Artist Celebrates Wearable Art Collaboration with Space Cowboy’s Signature Western Apparel Brand
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, New York — February 25, 2019 —The Theda Sandiford Art Show kicks off a historic partnership for the Planet Cowboy brand. Theda Sandiford in collaboration with Soho-based Space Cowboy Boots marks the release of the Theda Sandiford Artist Collection on Thursday, February 28, from 6 to 9pm, on site at the well-known store front on Mulberry Street. Sandiford reimagines her painting Future Past using leather as canvas to create the shaft of the boot. The footwear is available for purchase beginning at $429.
“We all wear masks. Masks to pretend, to hide or just to put our best face forward in a selfie,†says Sandiford, a self-taught artist and music industry digital marketing veteran. “I construct masks to protect myself from my fears. What may start as an ugly statement about myself in the end becomes something beautiful.†The “boot-spiration†came, too, as an opportunity for the artist to repurpose a message of empowerment: “The original art was made in response to my being asked to dim my light so that less dynamic people would not be threatened by me. Reimagined as a boot, this work of art is now a potent reminder to always be you, no matter what.â€
Often grappling with themes of grace, power, and healing in her art, this trailblazing inaugural union for the artist and Planet Cowboy takes places as Black History Month ends and Women’s History Month begins and nods to ways that groups, as well as, individuals can reclaim their power.“Fashion is powerful,†says President and Space Cowboy co-owner Jaylin Ramer. “This wearable art collaboration with Theda is cutting edge and charts new territory for Planet Cowboy.†Since 2011, Space Cowboy has been a purveyor of Country Western apparel. “The boots are unisex, handcrafted in Mexico, and embroidered from heel to toe,†shares Ramer. “Fashion is about the individual and is completely unique. This is a pioneering opportunity to put art with a message on our signature boots.â€
The Theda Sandiford Art Show will also stage selections from various collections by the People’s Choice Award-winning artist at the in-store event. Brooklyn-based Duke’s Liquor Box will offer whiskey pours for the evening alongside a salsa tasting by Salsa Pistolero.
About Theda
Theda Sandiford, is a self-taught mixed media artist based in Jersey City, NJ. Though art is engrained in her psyche, Theda’s first creative endeavors were in the music business as a digital marketing executive. After years of ground breaking digital branding work for musicians, she began exploring her own artistry by transforming found and meticulously collected materials into mixed media works, photographing her process and then digitally manipulating these images to extend the narrative as part of her personal mythology. Fragmented identity juxtaposed with the existence of infinite possibilities is a recurring theme in her work. Her work Selfie-Joy was licensed to BET’s Being Mary Jane in 2017. Theda has shown extensively in Jersey City, Brooklyn and Los Angeles.
About Planet Cowboy
Planet Cowboy is Space Cowboy Boots own brand. President and co-owner Jaylin has been designing cutting edge styles in Soho for a number of years. She combines fashion-forward, remarkable boots that look as timeless as they last. Space Cowboy Boots tailors the brand to fit the Urban cowboy look, but keep the integrity of fit, comfort, style and durability. Planet Cowboy boots can be seen walking the street of NYC, in the ‘burbs, by the oceans, and at ranches around the globe.
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CONTACT Michael Counter (929) 269-5325
michael@counterculturellc.co
Im celebrating my birthday by opening my studio March 1st as part of JCFridays. Come take a tour of Garden Level Gallery. See new works in progress and maybe try your hand at wrapping some rope. All are welcome.
DATE: Friday, March 1st
TIME: 6:00pm -9:00pm
LOCATION: Garden Level Gallery; 315 3rd Street, Jersey City NJ. Between Cole and Monmouth Streets. From Manhattan take the PATH train to Grove Street. It is a short walk from there up Newark Avenue.
RSVP: Please let me know if you are going to make it so I get a headcount and can make sure there is enough food and drink for all….
Sandiford launches a Wearable Art collaboration with Planet Cowboy based on her painting Future Past. The piece is reimagined as boots—handcrafted in Mexico, embroidered heel to toe.
Witness selections from various collections by the People’s Choice Award-winning mixed media artist who charts new territory with her self-reflective works.
February 28th 7:00-9:00pm @ Space Cowboy Boots
LOCATION: 234 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10012
Pours by Brooklyn’s  Dukes Liquor Box Â
#cowboots #wearableart #wherewillyourbootstakeyou
Expressive Creative Soul: on display now through mid March
LOCATION: Bridge Art Gallery; 199 Broadway, Bayonne, NJ 07002, USA
Seven works from my Woman of Wonder collage series. A pure celebration of expression, music, femininity, and belief in oneself. A confirmation of life repeated as a cannon of ‘I am who I am.’ We often travel to the corners of the planet looking for safe places to BE. When what is actually necessary is a declaration: “We are our own selves!†There is a place for all of our being; the sexy, the demure, the loud and the reticent. On our own terms of being in our own skin when and how we need to be: Ella, Eartha, Grace, Diahann, Billie, and Nina (YES! Nina) taught us and made way for the Cardi’s, Beyonce’s and even Nikki’s of this world. We all fit and there is plenty of room for us. When we make room for ourselves.–
Boot Launch Party @ Space Cowboy February 28th
I’m launching a Wearable Art collaboration with Planet Cowboy based on my painting Future Past. The piece is reimagined as boots—handcrafted in Mexico, embroidered heel to toe.
February 28th 7:00-9:00pm @ Space Cowboy Boots
LOCATION: 234 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10012
Pours by Brooklyn’s Dukes Liquor Box
#cowboots #wearableart #wherewillyourbootstakeyou
Open Studio Party @ Garden Level Gallery on March 1st
Join me for a tour of Garden Level Gallery and celebrate my birthday too. Come see my new rope works in progress and maybe try your hand at wrapping some rope. I’lll be demoing rope wrapping at 7:00pm. All are welcome. Step down to #GardenLevelGallery
Pro Arts “Identity”… March 5- March 30th
LOCATION: Garden Level Gallery: 315 3rd Street Jersey City, NJ. Between Cole and Monmouth Streets. From Manhattan take the PATH to Groove Street and walk up Newark Avenue.
Wonder Woman Selfie is having herself a moment… She will be on display as part of Pro Arts “Identity” show in Rahway NJ, March 5- 30th. Join me for the Opening Reception on March 10th.
OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, March 10, 1-4pm
LOCATION: The Gallery Space; 1670 Irving St.Rahway, NJ
Devine Femme @ MoCADA…….March 8 – April 12
It is amazing what can happen when, I get out of my own way and share my art work. I shared an art post on LinkedIn and invited to participate in Divine Femme at MoCADA museum in Brooklyn, NYC. Jut like that. Social graph = Serendipity…
Over the last 20 years The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) has used the visual and performing arts as a point of departure for exploring new artistic production across a variety of disciplines. Through exhibitions and programming, MoCADA incites dialogue on pressing social and political issues facing the African Diaspora and fosters a dynamic space for the creation and continuous evolution of culture. Some notables who have been featured at MoCADA include Terence Nance (Random Acts of Flyness), Wangechi Mutu, Jamel Shabazz, Ava DuVernay, Saul Williams and now me.
Neon Autotune, below was chosen as the main promotional image for the show that is representative of how far (or NOT) society has come in our understanding, recognition, and celebration of the femme form –mind, body, and soul– as a spiritual rite.
LOCATION: 80 Hanson PlaceBrooklyn, NY 11217
EXHIBITION DATES: March 8 – April 12
Wonder Women’s stay at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey in Summit has come to a close but you can still see her in all her glory this month at Jersey City’s City Hall for the month of February.
LOCATION: Rotunda Gallery; 280 Grove St, Jersey City, NJ 07302
I am working on several yarn wrapped ropes for an installation. Come for the fellowship, food & drink and to try something new.
No experience necessary. Kid friendly. All are welcome. RSVP…
DATES: Saturday and Sunday February 16th and 17th
TIME: 12:00pm – 3:00pm.
LOCATION: Garden Level Gallery: 315 3rd Street, Jersey City NJ between Cole and Monmouth Streets. Step down to the Garden Level.
I recently did an interview with Vitiello Communications to talk about my process, inspirations and motivation as an artist and business woman.
Read on https://vtlo.com/blog/wonder-women-theda-sandiford/
This body of work is a collection of one sided conversations. As a woman, I find it is often easier to make my way in the world by keeping my mouth shut. To simply grin and bare it when haters, well meaning friends or co-workers say or do something incorrect or insensitive.
As a child, my father would say to me, “Better to be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubtâ€. So in keeping my mouth shut, I learned, to be seen, and selectively heard.
With ‘Big Mouth’, I am all of it. The sass, the crass, the erudite and more than that, aware. Aware of the language used to quiet me down. To remind me of what is and most importantly, what isn’t being said.
