M Gallery, CICA Museum
August 17 – 21, 2022
2022.08.17 – 21
A Facefull of Mangos
With this photographic series, I present to the viewer a resistance to systemic racism and also a window into understanding what makes us human. I hope that by showing imagery of touch, warmth, laughter, and love, I may begin to unravel and break down any preconceived notions or ideas that do not give resonance to those qualities in regard to Blackness in the mind of the viewer. I am desperately attempting to declare my own humanity and also have it recognized by others. By showing the gentle side of our human nature I am hopeful that the viewers will recognize their own familial behaviors and interactions, thus bridging gaps that are set by race, ethnicity, nationality, culture, and economic social-political forces. This work desires to deconstruct and challenge the mainstream historical imagery that has described Blackness in a light that wasn’t its own. And most importantly, It’s to create empathy among people by showing the human aptitude to love. In the words of Eric Williams “Together we aspire, together we achieve.”
Born in Hartford, CT, in 1995, Justin-Michael Emmanuel is a mixed media artist that primarily uses photography and the written word to explore ideas of family, love, and Blackness. Justin was first exposed to photography in 2015 during his time at Hampshire College where he received both the David E. Smith and Elaine Mays fellowship awards for his photographic work on Afrofuturism. He then completed a master of fine arts degree at the University of Hartford Art School in 2021 where he also won the Stanley Fellman Award for his graduate thesis work A Facefull of Mangos. Photographs from that series have been included in group exhibitions at the Chrysler Museum of Art, The Colorado Photographic Arts Center, The Joseloff Gallery, and The Camera Club of New York. Justin currently resides in Quincy, MA, where he continues to make photographs that critically engage with his community. By using the camera to show our human aptitude to love, Justin hopes that his photographs will help give people the tools they need to shape the world around them.
