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They Say "I'm so jealous" but They Really Mean "Envious"
They Say "I'm so jealous" but They Really Mean "Envious"
They Say "I'm so jealous" but They Really Mean "Envious"

They Say "I'm so jealous" but They Really Mean "Envious"

Artist (Bahamian-American)
Date2020
MediumWatercolor drawing on wood panel in archival epoxy resin. Hand-drilled holes and hand-sewn "African" wax fabric with oil paint impasto.
Dimensions30 × 24 in. (76.2 × 61 cm)
ClassificationsDrawing
Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Ellingson Family
Object number2021.2.1
Label TextApril Bey’s Afrofuturist work is centered around Atlantica, a fictional world where “power dynamics are destroyed” and where “people who may be seen as less than [on Earth] are more than [in Atlantica].” For Bey, focusing on the future is a way to expand narratives of Black history solely concerned with suffering to include Black success, innovation, and triumphs. In doing so, Bey wills the creation of a new aesthetic, and a new narrative, that exists beyond oppression.

Like many of the other works in April Bey’s Atlantica series, this watercolor drawing also comments on neo-colonialism in the African diaspora. Bey was particularly struck by the Chinese knock-offs of traditional West African textiles she found during her travels to Benin, Togo, and Ghana. Bey hand-sewed this Chinese wax-fabric into the wood panel of this work to represent the globalization and corporate capitalism that continues to impact Black communities around the globe.
Status
On view
Location
  • Roosevelt Hall (1 University Drive), Floor 2, 200 Lounge