Organic Tarot: Works by Tya Alisa Anthony

Each of Tya Alisa Anthony’s layered works is a story unto itself, a narrative woven together with history, warmth, and the lives of people long past but still present through memory and image.

Jan. 15 – April 3, 2022

York Street Location

1007 York Street

Denver, CO 80206 Map

720-865-3500

Freyer – Newman Center

Enigmatic and gently poignant, Anthony’s artworks draw on the imagery and tradition of tarot—illustrated cards used for divination and fortune telling. Using the storied practice of tarot reading to interpret life’s journeys, Anthony illuminates and reframes the personal stories of Depression-era Black sharecroppers to reimagine them as icons of divine and mystical power. 

Combining archival photos with botanical imagery from the artist’s own childhood memories, Organic Tarot explores the often-hidden stories of people of color depicted in historic photographs, images that captured only a fragmented moment of a rich and complex life.

About the Artist

Tya Alisa Anthony is an interdisciplinary artist and curator who explores themes of social justice, human rights and identity. Combining photography, collage and sculpture, Anthony reimagines histories to create autonomous spaces for bodies of color. Anthony received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design and is a Redline Contemporary Art Center Residency Artist alumna. She has exhibited in Baltimore, MD and the Colorado region at venues including Center for Visual Arts and Leon Gallery, and is currently a TANK Studios artist. Based in Colorado, Anthony is the executive director and founder of Mahogany Vu Contemporary Art, a thriving online gallery for BIPOC artists, and serves as a board member for Leon Gallery and Tilt West.
 

On Saturday, November 13th, at 7pm, Leon will premiere Tya Alisa Anthony’s much anticipated exhibition “Muscle Memory.” Since her debut exhibition “Skins” at Leon in early 2017, Anthony has become a central figure within the Denver art community, as an artist, a curator, and an educator. She is a Redline Residency Artist Alumna, has had her worked featured in MCA – Denver’s Octopus Initiative, has been acquired by The Denver Art Museum for their permanent collection, and curated “From This Day Forward” at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in spring of 2021. Recently she was awarded a sizable grant from The Sharon Prize, to assist her with the preparation of her upcoming exhibition at Leon.

The artist will be inviting people to make appointments to have tea and a one on one conversation within the gallery installation on Thursday and Saturday afternoons. Reserve your spot below.

Chromatic Cogitations: Rhythm Reboot

November 12, 2021 - January 23, 2022

RedLine's Annual Resident Artist Exhibition

Curated by Rosie Gordon-Wallace

Chromatic Cogitations: Rhythm Reboot brings together thirty artistic voices that employ a variety of colors, images, and artistic strategies to reset the rhythm of their individual practices. Viewed collectively, their work responds to shifting political and societal pressures while referencing art historical positions from the 1970s through today that mobilized postcolonial movements, the recognition of outsider art, and formed expressions of radical social emancipation. Their content includes passionate responses to climate change, ecosystem loss, blackness and masculinity, heritage, legacy, hierarchy, and the emergence of gender stories that have hitherto been silenced and rendered invisible. - Rosie Gordon-Wallace, Curator

Participating Resident Artists: Vince Alfonso, Taiko Chandler, Ben Coleman, Victor Escobedo, Sam Grabowska, Rochelle Johnson, Max Maddox, Victor Machado, Cherish Marquez, Lauri Lynnxe Murphy, Adri Norris, Edgar L. Page, Sarah Darlene Palmeri, Laura Ann Samuelson.

Participating Alumni: Tya Alisa Anthony, Chris Bagley, Sarah Bowling, Colby Deal, Trey Duvall, Lares Feliciano, Anthony Garcia Sr., Juntae TeeJay Hwang, Marsha Mack, Tony Ortega, Eileen Roscina, Kate Speer, Michael Sperandeo in collaboration with Ryan Buxton, Kenzie Sitterud, Regan Rosburg.