Generous gallerist Arnika Dawkins
“Artists are dialed to a different level of sensitivity,” says Arnika Dawkins (M.A., digital photography, 2008). The eponymous founder of Arnika Dawkins Gallery is attuned to her own focused mission. Her Midwest Atlanta gallery shows photographic works by artists “speaking both to the moment we’re in, and contributing to the grand dialogue across generations.”
Dawkins has helped elevate the work of SCAD alumni LeAndra LeSeur (B.F.A., photography, 2014) and Ervin A. Johnson (M.F.A., photography, 2015) to international prominence. She celebrated Johnson’s current show Variations on a Theme with a virtual opening in September. A fine art photographer in her own right, and member of SCAD Atlanta’s first graduating class in 2008, Dawkins is a star in the SCAD firmament.
Arnika Dawkins:
The story of how I wound up attending SCAD begins with my youngest cousin, who was an on-air reporter in Savannah took me and my daughters through downtown Savannah and said, these buildings are part of what’s called the Savannah College of Art and Design. Within months a big sign went up on Peachtree announcing the opening of SCAD Atlanta, and I decided to apply. I gave myself permission to pursue something I was passionate about. SCAD was perfect for me.
After I graduated, I interned at Jackson Fine Art in Atlanta, a local gallery with an amazing reputation, and got the bug to start my own gallery. I opened Arnika Dawkins Gallery in 2012, and my intern Le’Andra LeSeur said she wanted to introduce me to her classmate Ervin Johnson. At an opening here at the gallery and Le’Andra noticed that Ervin was heading out, so we ran over to say hello. When I took a look at his work, I had this powerful visceral reaction. I invited Ervin and Le’Andra to have their work in an exhibition in late 2015 that I titled On Being Black, where 22 artists showed work about being what being Black means to them.
Soon thereafter we did a solo exhibition of Ervin’s work called #InHonor. It was Ervin’s creative response to the Black Lives Matter movement, and it evolved into #InHonor: Monoliths, the second solo exhibition I’ve shown of his work. The art that I love to show is art that engages your head, your intellect, your heart, and your vision — then you have this thing going on which feels so good. It’s been a real pleasure to show Ervin’s work and see his evolution.
At the invitation of the European Cultural Centre, I submitted Ervin’s work and it was shown at the 2019 Venice Biennale in their exhibition called Personal Structures. It was very well received and we were so happy to have Ervin go to Venice and receive all those accolades. I’m thrilled that SCAD is also showing that work during Photo London alongside Le’Andra’s work, in concert with us having his third solo show here at the gallery called Variations on a Theme. These portraits are mesmerizing, captivating, and impactful. When you see them, you see why.
It is my hope as gallerist that by being part of this visual dialogue we can move the needle and create questions that people can reflect on. Art has the ability to do that. Through these conversations, we can progress and then there’s great benefit to us all, people of all races, because we’re all part of each other’s existence.
Visit Arnika Dawkins Gallery.
By Peter Relic
