Author: ArmoryWeb

You are invited to a reception on August 13th from 4-6pm with Somerville artist Audrey Diallo whose work will be exhibited at ROOTED Armory Café from August 8th – September 17th. 

Born in the 1970s in Berlin, Germany to an American mother and German father, Audrey Diallo spent her entire life immersed in multicultural communities. Developing a love for all things creative, she pursued a degree in Graphic Design  at the Atlanta College of Art, where she graduated with a BFA in Illustration.

She spent most of her career working as a graphic designer both in Germany and in the US. 

While in Africa, she was deeply moved by the beauty, magic, and meaning present in African art. She was impressed by the beauty of day to day objects, the elegance of people’s day to day activities, and the grace with which people moved through even the most difficult circumstances. The artist uses her paintings to build visual bridges from her experiences in Africa to the viewer who is invited to hear the sounds, imagine the faces, and feel the connections we all share.

Audrey lives and paints in Somerville, MA with her 2 children. For more information about her work, please visit her website here.

Artist Statement by Lucille Nava:

“From the early 1970s through 2012, I made art despite full-time employment in another professional area. After that period, and up to the present, I have worked full-time in my studio.

I paint to convey the contradictions I see in daily life—emotional, psychological, environmental, political—color and line work together, yet they emerge as opposites of what I know about the immediacy of place.

The seductiveness of color is often in juxtaposition to the context of forms. The forms are sometimes projectiles, and at other times pieces that have broken off from their anchors. They may be grounded or float, but I always want them to defy logic, to provoke, to challenge the
world of rules and conformity.”

ROOTED Armory Café is open Tu – F 12pm – 7:30pm, and Sat 9am – 7:30pm. The Café is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Please check the event schedule for additional open hours outside of regular hours.

In a recent survey, “more venues to perform/display art” was the #1 ranked and most desired outcome of a cultural plan for the City of Somerville. In response to this need, we launched our first Performance Opportunity Program series in February. With a goal to raise $10,000 by June 30th, we are dedicating our June Campaign to supporting our Performance Opportunity Program (POP). We are asking for your ongoing support so that we can continue to provide POP as an opportunity to artists and cultural workers at least once per month. Thank you for giving as generously as you can. We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming POP event! Click here to give and learn more about POP.