One Two Pru’s soulful art exhibition, African Diaspora: Chicago, has already sold two stunning mixed media paintings since debuting on May 28. Curated by Gallery Guichard, African Diaspora: Chicago has been making its mark on the city as a part of Chicago’s larger initiative to reopen through the arts.
Our civic and personal identities are made of stories — the stories we recite to ourselves and to each other. So One Two Pru’s collaboration with Bronzeville’s very own Gallery Guichard transcends language to tell much-needed stories about the growth of our city alongside the diaspora that built it. Adorning the walls of our lobby, this exhibition tells Chicago’s story through introspective mixed-media art. From chronicling the city’s long history of jazz and blues to memorializing the pressures of the pandemic, this captivating selection elevates the creative voices of underrepresented artists of African descent.
And the artists have clearly extended beyond their physical mediums to reach the hearts of the people, as two pieces have already been purchased. Buyers bought the pieces after viewing them in Gallery Guichard’s Bronzeville exhibition space and in the gallery’s virtual exhibition catalog (VEC). The two purchased pieces can be enjoyed on the walls of One Two Pru’s lobby, and both customers will enjoy these pieces in their homes following the exhibition.
The first piece sold, titled “The Sun Will Rise Again,” is a hopeful mixed media piece from Frances ‘Marlene Campbell’ Guichard that depicts the sun rising over a beach filled with people. The meld of sand and acrylic adds texture and dynamism to the solemnity of the overscaled sun — generating a stroke of awe and surrender.
The second work sold is titled “Rusty Romance” — a three-dimensional piece by Stephen “Sayo” Olalekan that utilizes winding organic lines and oxidized color palettes to celebrate intimacy and Black beauty.
One Two Pru is proud to collaborate with Gallery Guichard to not only offer a much-deserved platform for diasporic artists, but also to bring art from out of the gallery and into the touchpoints of the city.
“The Sun Will Rise Again”
Acrylic, sand, mixed media
Frances ‘Marlene Campbell’ Guichard
9’ x 7’
Retail: $9,000
“Rusty Romance”
Stephen “Sayo” Olalekan
Mixed media
40.75” x 40.75
Retail: $5,000