Shantrelle P. Lewis interviews Najee Dorsey Founder / CEO of Black Art In America for the Summer Issue of Art Voices Magazine
Najee Dorsey converses with a variety of characters, confronting past narratives, personal demons, resistance, and independence. He applies various 2-D and 3-D formats to manipulate representations of historic figures, antiques, folktales, and vintage photos that create a narrative about a misrepresented people. It is quite evident that Najee Dorsey is both a self-taught artist and a self-made man. Few Black artists see the financial fruits of their labors, but for the past decade, Najee Dorsey has amassed a significant group of individuals who act as both collectors and patrons, giving him the freedom to make what he wants and say what he pleases.
Out of this financial independence he has created a platform for promoting the contemporary art of Black artists—a website entitled Black Art in America. The website is more than an online portal. It is a space where both self-taught art entrepreneurs whose main occupation is traveling from city to city to open markets and fairs and anyone interested in the vast scope of Black art in the United States can find the latest commentary and happenings from emerging to blue-chip artists, exhibitions, art fairs, and biennials. Honestly, there are few other spaces that can claim the same level of objectivity.
It’s not an easy task playing artist and collector, manager and curator, enthusiast and critic, but Najee Dorsey is the man who seems to be walking this fine line and doing so very well.
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