For immediate release on: Feb 8, 2023
PDF: Art Exhibition A World to Win Press Release
A World to Win
Ferociously proposing a new world – an exhibition of artworks by Ian Matchett and Rivka Valérie Louissaint
February 5, 2023, New York City, U.S.—From February 17 to May 5, The People’s Forum presents A World to Win, an exhibition that celebrates the many historical advancements of the international working class and ferociously proposes a new world—one that puts people first. Ian Matchett and Rivka Valérie Louissaint’s oil paintings and mixed-media collages highlight leaders of the past and present and rally visions of working-class unity, power, and the future.
The opening of the exhibition is on the evening of February 17, starting at 6pm, with remarks from the artists. On February 18, there will be a workshop on artistic process from 4:30-6:30pm. The RSVP for both the opening and the workshop can be found on peoplesforum.org/redbooksday.
Launching for The People’s Forum’s celebration of Red Books Day, the exhibition brings together visual art, history, theory, and struggle as part of an international observance of left books, their authors, and the people’s movements they ushered forward.
In celebration of the great contributions internationalist movements have made in the development of the working-class struggle, and in recognition of the need to build unity and grow our movements, this exhibition fuels our current moment.
About the Artists
Ian Matchett is a queer socialist midwestern painter. He was raised in West Michigan, and attended UM Ann Arbor, receiving degrees in Political Science and Studio Art in 2014. Since graduating he has lived in Detroit, helping found The Brick and Mortar Collective and The Michigan Student Power Network, and in 2021 was named Director of Swords into Plowshares Peace Center and Gallery. His work is focused on the use of history, art, and memory as tools for social change. He has shown and sold work both locally and nationally.
Rivka Valérie Louissaint also known as Kakou (Kah-koo), is an Haitian cultural worker currently based in Oakland CA. Their practice includes mixed media visual work, writing, performance arts, as well as being an educator and a community organizer. Louissaint is an MFA graduate of the UC Berkeley Art Practice Department, class of 2022 and is a 2022-23 Gerardo Marín Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of San Francisco, CA where they teach a Drawing for Non-Major course.
Louissaint’s work has been exhibited at BAMPFA, Berkeley; SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco; the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; the Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn;the New York Academy of Art, New York; the Oliver Art Center, Oakland; and the Rosemary Duffy Larson Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They were a recipient of the Murphy Cadogan Award in 2021, and one of the 2022 AXA Art Prize finalists.
On View
February 17 — May 5, 2023
The People’s Forum and Elizabeth Catlett Art Space
The People’s Forum is a movement incubator for working class and marginalized communities to build unity across historic lines of division at home and abroad. We are an accessible educational and cultural space that nurtures the next generation of visionaries and organizers who believe that through collective action a new world is possible.
The Elizabeth Catlett Printmaking Studio and Art Space is a center for people’s art & culture. At the heart of our work at The People’s Forum, we believe art & culture must be centered to build and energize our movements. Inspired by the legacy of Elizabeth Catlett whose artworks boldly delivered social and political messaging, the art space provides resources to develop artists’ skills and organizational capacity.
Visit Information
The People’s Forum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 9pm. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. Proof of vaccination required for entry.
For more information, please visit peoplesforum.org or email us at info@peoplesforum.org.
Press Contact
Yuwei Pan, Communications Coordinator, The People’s Forum, 347.480.9225, yuwei.p@peoplesforum.org
Categories: Statements + Announcements
