Chris Watts (b. 1983)  is an abstract painter and mixed-media artist. His practice focuses on interrogating and re-examining social and personal narratives through the transfiguration of painting, drawing, video, sculpture and installations. Constructed out of soft and sheer textiles, poly-chiffon silk, or poly blend wraps, and resin, the recent work builds upon themes in  his “Blahk on Blahk on Blak” paintings by incorporating pigments sourced from Peru and further investigating the ways in which lived experiences are perceived. The work is intended to create space for a slow-looking, meditative experience free from any recognizable references to the figure. Inspired in part by his travels to Peru and encounters with healers and shamans, this body of work is also an examination of his Native American ancestry and the cooperative relationship between ancient Africans and Native Americans.

 
Chris Watts was born in High Point, North Carolina. He attended the MFA program at Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT, after graduating from the College of Arts and Architecture, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC, and the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Wroclaw, PL. Watts has held various artist residencies, among them the Marek Maria Pienkowski Foundation, Chelm, PL; McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Charlotte, NC; the Art & Law Fellowship Program, at Cornell University Art Architecture Planning, New York, NY; the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Workspace Program, New York, NY; and, the 2022-2023 Soros Justice Fellowship Program. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. He is a featured artist in the documentary film, The Art of Making It, directed by Kelcey Edwards, and from the Emmy-nominated producer Debi Wisch (The Price of Everything). The film will have its world premiere at the 2021 Hamptons International Film Festival. Watts shares his time between New York and North Carolina.

Helen Evans Ramsaran (b. 1943) was born in Bryan, Texas. She moved to New York City in 1973. Shortly thereafter (1978), Ramsaran created a series of bronze relief sculpture called Visual Tales. The images and forms are somewhat calligraphic, thus posing very challenging casting problems. In executing this body of work at the Johnson Atelier in Princeton, New Jersey, Ramsaran was able to perfect the technique of casting very delicate bronze sculptures.  During the early 1980's, Ramsaran's work took on a major shift and was heavily influenced by her travels throughout Africa, Japan, Mexico, and Europe.  The work that she created during this period and well into the 1990s focused on the primordial world of ancient rituals, mysterious fossilized remains, mystic forces, and African inspired architecture.

Over the years, Ramsaran has exhibited nationally and internationally. In 1994, she had a solo exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem that traveled from the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Virginia. Public collections include the Sheldon Museum, and the Mead Art Museum among others. She was included on the list of “Top Picks From Frieze Los Angeles Viewing Room 2023” by Rujeko Hockley, Associate Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Ramsaran splits her time between New York and Europe.

Oasa DuVerney (b. 1979) was born in Queens, New York.  She received a B.F.A from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and an M.F.A from Hunter College. Her work is mostly social and political commentary that relates to her social status as a woman of color and a working-class person. Her works are mainly figurative drawings, specifically graphite on paper. DuVerney signals elements from nature, including waves, snakes and mountains to explore the ways in which people of color exist in contemporary society. Oasa was recently awarded a New York City Percent for Art commission to create a series of reflective portraits of influential authors from the African diaspora for the Brooklyn Public Library Eastern Parkway branch. Etched into shatterproof glass mirrors, the works will provide viewers the opportunity to reflect on themselves and the authors being represented. By focusing on the African Diaspora, the artist pays homage to the diversity of cultures and peoples of African descent currently living in Crown Heights, their journey and making this community home. Project completion is scheduled for 2024.

DuVerney has completed numerous artist in residency programs at various institutions: The Met’s Civic Practice Partnership (CPP) (2023-25); Rush Philanthropic Foundation Artist Residency (2016), Smack Mellon Studio Artist Residency (2014-2015); LMCC Workspace Residency (2012-2013). Some of DuVerney’s more recent exhibitions have been held at Welancora Gallery (2022), BRIC (Brooklyn, 2019 and 2016), Brooklyn Museum (2018), and Studio Museum in Harlem (2016). DuVerney is a founder of the community-based public art collective, “Brooklyn Hi-Art! Machine.” She currently lives and works in New York.

For EXPO Chicago 2023, Welancora Gallery exhibited Oasa DuVerney along with Helen Evans Ramsaran. Various works presented in this online viewing room were shown at the fair.

Chris Cook is a fine art photographer from Brooklyn, New York. He is known for his evocative images of everyday life in New York City. Cook takes photographs to preserve stories and experiences that capture the human experience for future generations. His creative process incorporates traditional and digital printmaking techniques to create unique, one-of-a-kind prints. During his journey, he worked alongside other photographers including Ming Smith, Jamel Shabazz, and Ahmed Klink. Awards include the City Artist Corps Grant (2021), and Cook has held residencies at the Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts (2021) and the AIM Fellowship at the Bronx Museum of the Arts (2020). Cook's photographs have been featured in a range of publications, including The Washington Post, Lomography, and ABC News.

Cook has exhibited in galleries and conducted chats and workshops throughout New York State. Solo exhibitions include “Am I Next?” 2021 at Welancora Gallery, May 2020–September 2020). In 2021, the Valentine Museum of Art published Cook's limited edition monograph titled “Black Lives Matter.” It contains 364 pages and 159 plates documenting the 2020 and 2021 Black Lives Matter protests in New York, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. The monograph also contains essays by Carl E. Hazlewood and Halima Taha. Some recent acquisitions come from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYU Special Collections, the Charles Evans Inniss Memorial Library at Medgar Evers College, Cornell University Library Special Collections, Princeton University Special Collections, the University of Pennsylvania Special Collections, and Yale University Special Collections.