Margaret Rose Vendryes

Lives and works in Queens, New York, USA

Artist statement

Black celebrities are, without exception, catalysts for style and deportment. Within my African Diva Project, my delight in creating identity statements through costumes began with homemade paper dolls, continued with high school theater clubs, and remained through my undergraduate years behind the scenes in the costume shops of UMass and then Amherst College where I completed my BA in fine arts. The challenges I take on with commercial photographs of costuming for LP covers, product promotion, and spectacular event posing result in paintings that speak not only to what my studio practice can accomplish, but to the talents of couture designers, professional photographers, and the desire to create a unique and memorable presence of black talent. My addition of the traditional African mask proudly worn by the black celebrity acknowledges an ancestral legacy that evokes power and prestige and transports their staged persona beyond entertainment.

Artwork

• Bete Toni - African Diva, 2020. Oil and Cold wax on canvas with wood mask
• Senufo Lizzo - African Diva, 2020. Oil and Cold wax on canvas with wood mask30
• Igbo Billy - African Diva, 2020. oil and cold wax on canvas with wood mask
• Baule Missy - African Diva, 2018. Oil and cold wax on shaped canvas, wood mask
• Dan Jill - African Diva, 2018. oil and cold wax on canvas with wood mask, synthetic hair
• Guro Ntozake - African Diva, 2014. oil and cold wax on canvas with wood mask
• Punu Janelle - African Diva, 2014. oil and cold wax on canvas with wood mask
• Sowei Rupaul - African Diva, 2012. oil and coldwax on canvas and paper
• Mossi Cassandra - African Diva, 2012. oil and cold wax on canvas and paper
• Kwele Betty - African Diva, 2010. Oil and cold wax on canvas and paper