#4 Hot Coffee with an Artist

Series of conversations by Nina Mdivani

A cup of coffee with New York-based French-Black artist Marc Andre

Marc Andre is emerging New York-based artist. Born in Toulouse, France and transplanted to New York Andre is still more connected to the tribal ceremonies he has observed in Benin and Equatorial Guinea when visiting Africa with his mother as a child. This week at Black Wall Street Gallery we are presenting his show Banned from the Gallery. This title was chosen by the artist himself. And in a way it is a metaphor of how Andre feels about the art industry. He rebels against it, but also wants to challenge the status quo. Marrying emotions with color, Andre uses his minimalistic canvases as another medium to express his ideas from hip hop and other musical genres. Tribal masks are part of his vision, but so are humor, dynamism, and theatricality.

Nina Mdivani: Where are you sitting right now for this coffee? What are the three things you see?

Marc Andre: My favorite spot is La Cabra in East village best coffee, tea and bakery in Manhattan and I see people with taste, how active 2nd Avenue is and different fashion styles of people in the streets.

NM: What is the most exciting event that is coming up in the next weeks for you?

MA: My solo exhibition at BWS Gallery named Banned from the Gallery after I humbly created a cultural movement.

NM: Why is the upcoming exhibition titled “Banned from the Gallery”?

MA: I chose this title because the outsiders and underdogs of Art need a voice, going against the mechanism of art world. I was actually banned from the gallery, funny enough, so to me it was a joke that turned into an organic movement. An Organized chaos!

NM: I know that observing tribal ceremonies in Benin and Equatorial Guinea had made an impact on you as a child. Do you still feel connected to those experiences in some way? Does this influence your music in any way?

MA: It still does because it’s who I am as a black man these are my roots and every human needs to understand their roots to know who they truly are. It will never go away, it’s part of my story and of course it influences the music at all time without these roots there wouldn’t be no growth in my life which includes my artistry.

NM: You were born in France and moved to the United States in 2015. Do you feel French or American now? 

MA: I’m a citizen of the world at this point.

Read more about the exhibition > HERE

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Hot Coffee with an Artist:

In these short conversations Nina Mdivani, Tbilisi-born and New York-based writer, curator and gallerist touches on topics of importance for the artists she encounters across the globe. They discuss coffee places, upcoming shows as well as what’s the crux of their artistic processes.