For the past six months, our regional Cliff Notes columnists Fox Whitney, Alitzah Oros, Melika Sebihi, and Kaya Noteboom have picked the most exciting events and exhibitions on the West Coast!
Variable West is excited to introduce you to our next four Cliff Notes columnists! Meet Jaydra Johnson in Oregon, Brittney Frantece in Washington, Blessing Greer Mathurin in Southern California, and Quintessa Matranga in Northern California.
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Keep scrolling to learn more about our new columnists!
Jaydra Johnson is a writer, visual artist, and educator. Her art-critical memoir Low: Notes on Art and Trash was chosen for publication by Maggie Nelson. She has exhibited her visual work in Portland, OR, LA, NYC, and Columbus, OH. You can find more of her work on www.jaydrajohnson.com or on her Substack, Refuse Report.
Instagram: @jaydranicole
Brittney Frantece is a writer, artist, scholar, and curator who works with Black speculative literature and visual arts. She explores the new and otherworldly ways of thinking, being, and knowledge productions that Black imaginations offer. Her writing has appeared in Variable West, Black Embodiments Studio Journals, and various art writing collections. She curated Black Invention in 3 Parts (2023) at Soil Art Gallery, Portraits of Ecstatic Feeling: Al Smith Collection (2022) for MOHAI, and We Black, We Surreal(2023) and Queer Imaginations (2021) at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery. She is currently a Thurgood Marshall Fellow at Dartmouth College.
Blessing Greer Mathurin is a curator and ‘art girly’ who combines curatorial practice with conceptual art and memory-making. Mathurin has worked in different capacities within the arts, from gallery sitter, gallerina, and curator. Her perspective is driven by an interest in cultural exploration and a love of the art of questioning. Blessing seeks to spotlight narratives that provoke thought and inspire depth and beauty.
Instagram: @b13ss1ng
Website: https://www.b13ss1ng.com
Assistant Director at Altman Siegel Gallery
Instagram: @mega_quintessa