'In Conversation' exhibition celebrates Black art at the Gallery on Queen

April Pyne's abstraction showcase. (Credit: Malachi Lefurgey)

The 10-year-old Gallery on Queen is one of those galleries that aren't afraid to represent the unrepresented, showcasing art that says and means something.  

“That is my mandate,” said Nadia Khoury, owner of the gallery.

On March 28, Khoury presented to the city of Fredericton “In Conversation,” a celebration of Black art.  

“Black artists and history are not just February, we need to celebrate ... but the rest of the year it’s not talked about, that is why we decided to do it in March,” said Khoury.

The gallery showcased two artists with vastly different backgrounds.

Rhonda Simmons, a Black female artist based in Fredericton, explores the realm of women, race and power.  

“My work tends to be women-centric, in the spirit of ‘woman is goddess’,” said Simmons.

“My work is very Black focused … I feel guided and directed to do the work, I’m not doing it for any outside validation or engagement.”  

Being born and raised in the Maritimes, Simmons feels her provocative and politically stated art isn't as accepted, appreciated or understood as it is outside the Maritimes.  

However, her art at the Gallery on Queen is “safe.”

“I always like to use my art to say what I need to,” she said. 

Simmons has not been shy about the ways of travel. She has travelled from the U.S. to Mexico and researched how Spain uses their altars and shrines in their personal and spiritual lives.  

Her art, presented in the gallery, explores goddesses and spiritual beings. One of her works was inspired by her years living in Mexico, on Our Lady of Guadalupe, a revered saint representing Mexican identity and faith.  

“The altars [in Mexico] are passed down from woman to woman within a family.”  

Simmons grew up in an Anglican influence but does not fall under the religious umbrella.  

“I'm spiritual, big difference. I find it, for me, more open-ended. There’s more room for me to explore and grow and [be] not in a closed religious [box].” 

April Pyne, originally from New York, but now based in Riverview, N.B., is inspired by constructed spaces and how organics are constructed together.  

“We live in these very ordered worlds, but in the midst of that you can find unexpected beauty and change in those spaces,” said Pyne.  

Pyne uses geometric shapes, representing her childhood and growing up in cities. 

As a child, Pyne had extremely poor eyesight, “no one knew how badly I needed glasses” and all she saw were geometric shapes and colors.  

“A lot of the world was just shapes to me and the way I saw the world for so long just stayed with me [in my art],” she said.  

Exploring an abstract medium of art, Pyne tries to make sense of the world around her, bringing order in such chaos and confinement.  

“To me, art is both freeing and confining, a choice is a confining thing but can also be a freeing thing.” 

Growing up, Pyne loved seeing abstract art at local museums but found that most, if not all, the artists were white men. Now Pyne is feeling seen in the Gallery on Queen. 

“As being a black female artist in abstraction where those voices aren't really magnified in that way ... I couldn't quite see myself there but it's lovely now to know there's a place for my art in that world.”  

“I never wanted to be pigeonholed as just a black artist or just a female artist but seen as my art first.”  

Gallery on Queen strives to continue to promote and showcase black art throughout the year, honouring the first gallery on the East Coast to celebrate Black History month seven years ago.