Meet Inspiring Woman Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, the visual artist behind an international street art series that tackles gender-based street harassment.
Brooklyn, NY 2017
Do the work to unlearn your sexism. Choose to see women as subjects, not as objects. Recognize your sexism, then work everyday to undo it. What that actually looks like can be several things. The language you use to talk about women, the jokes you tell, the way you address women, the weight you give to a man’s opinion vs a woman’s, the expectations you place on women, your entitlement to a woman’s body. I speak to men all the time who do not recognize their position in this sexist society. You do have a position.
here. been here. not going anywhere.
el paso, tx. 2017
Not Going Anywhere, wheat paste and audio installation, 2017
by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh
BRIC in Brooklyn, NY
February 27th - May 7th, 2017
Day 3 of #BlackFuturesMonth comes with a double punch from two heavy hitters: Alexis Pauline Gumbs @alexispaulinegumbs & Tatyana Fazlalizadeh @tatyanafazlalizadeh. These two weren’t playing around with the Black feminism convo.
Tatyana describes her poster: “Black women and girls fight against a lot of things in our daily lives. Misogyny and anti-blackness to begin. My poster depicts a teenage black girl wearing the names of black women who have lost their lives due to state-sanctioned violence, street harassment, transphobia, misogynoir, sexism, and racism. Paired with an excerpt from Audre Lorde’s poem “Harriet”, my poster illustrates the fight for black women and girls to live freely, to speak and be heard, to be seen, to be valued.”
Read Alexis’ article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/radical-legacies-black-feminist-living-room_us_58949e91e4b0c1284f25734c
#BlackLivesMatter
#TiarahPoyau was shot and killed by a black man after rejecting him dancing on her.
I particularly added the adjective “black” in front of “man” because I’m tired of shying away from pointing out the violence perpetrated by black men onto black women.
I’m also tired of providing a disclaimer before speaking about this stuff with “Not all black men…” or “I love black men, but…”
So I’m not going to do it.
Tiarah was at an event meant for celebration and love and fun. Around black folk.
And died because of a man’s entitlement. This is what sexual violence looks like. What street harassment looks like. What #misogynoir looks like. What being a black woman moving through the world looks like.
It’s sad and disgusting and I’m tired of it.
Stop mistreating us. Stop abusing us. Stop killing us.
Black men: you are complicit. Check your homies who you know are problematic. Stop making sexist jokes thinking that it’s funny. Stop thinking that feminism is just for white folks.
If you’ve been taught that to be a man means to be aggressive, that to be vulnerable or expressive is to be womanly which is to be weak, dead that. Reject the toxic masculinity and violence that you’ve been taught is real manhood. Try.
Because the black women that love you and support you and are out here - have BEEN out here - fighting and protesting for your very right to breathe air and live freely are dying at YOUR hands.
Do something.
Do something.
Do something.
“You Are Harassing The Very Women Who Are Fighting For Your Life”.
Portrait is of Sable, pasted in Brooklyn, NY, from the Stop Telling Women to Smile series.
“Sakia, Sakia, Sakia, Sakia” is a mural I completed earlier this week in Newark, NJ. #SakiaGunn was a teenage girl who was stabbed by a man after her and her friends refused him on the street. She was 15, black, a girl, and gay. This month marks the dates of her death (May 11) and birth (May 26). It felt really appropriate and important to paint her portrait. However, I was nervous because I had trouble getting in touch with her family to get permission before starting the mural. But a few days into it, through social media, we found each other and there was nothing but love.
This mural is a part of a mural of project called #GatewaystoNewark to spans over a mile on McCarter Hwy and features dozens of amazing artists. Because the murals are off of a highway, we had to work over night for only a week. 9PM - 4AM everyday.
I’m not from Newark. I didn’t know Sakia personally. But she was a young black queer girl and deserves to be seen and her story heard. While painting, many people drove by a yelled out her name. A few people got out of there cars to tell me they knew her.
This is the stuff that public art is good for.
#sayhername
Very happy to work with BET to paint portraits of each celebrant from tonight’s Black Girls Rock awards show. Amandla had the best reaction when she saw her piece.
Women Are Not Seeking Your Validation
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh
January 10-February 21, 2016
Corridor Gallery
334 Grand Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Opening Reception
January 10, 4-6PM
Women Are Not Seeking Your Validation is a statement. It is an assertion acting as retaliation against a society that polices a woman’s value and worth. It is a confrontation. These paintings are an experiment at creating work of and about women that references the male gaze, but is not about it. Exploring ways to assert the voices of women within a patriarchal society.
This exhibition features four oil paintings, and 2 wheat paste installations. Bridging the street art practice with the studio practice. In this work, I’m using portraiture and text to recreate the presence of a woman - her face and her voice. Using oil painting to discover how these assertions of women are comprehended within a gallery space.
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, a native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She is a 2015 Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient. From traditional oil paint to wheat paste on outdoor walls, Fazlalizadeh adds her imagery to a national and international dialogue about conflict in public spaces, such as sexual violence against women. Her street art series, Stop Telling Women to Smile, has garnered attention around the world for bringing light to street harassment and women’s rights via visual art. The public art series can be found on walls across the US, in Mexico City, Berlin, and Paris. Fazlalizadeh’s work has been covered by the New York Times, NPR, MSNBC, and major media outlets. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Detroit.