Lot 203 - Ashley January - Seekers Study

Oil, acrylic, and gesso on paper
2024
A6 (10x15cm)
Original Artwork
Signed on Verso
Curated by Art on a Postcard

About
Ashley January creates contemporary paintings informed by her maternal experience. Exploring themes of preeclampsia, premature birth, and birth trauma, her newest body of work continues to address the Black maternal mortality and morbidity crisis in America. Ashley became the first recipient of the Women’s Caucus for Art, 2022 Emerging Artist Award, and has recently debuted her newest series, Environments of a Heavy Joy, at EXPO Chicago 2024 and 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London in October with Cynthia Corbett Gallery. She was selected as a finalist for the 2022 Artadia Chicago Award and in January 2023, Ashley had the second installment of her solo exhibition, Human | Mother | Black, at Western Illinois University. Most recently, her works were featured in the New York group show, Fruits of Labor: Reframing Motherhood and Artmaking at Apex Art. She was invited to participate in the Unit London (Voices) online group exhibition Naissance/Re-Naissance.

Additionally, Tufts University School of Medicine's Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice, acquired paintings from her series. Her works have been exhibited in numerous venues including, The Young Masters Autumn Exhibition in London, UK; the South Side Community Art Center, Chicago, IL; Mana Contemporary, Chicago, IL; SoLA Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA; the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL; Viridian Artists Inc, New York, NY; Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA; Pacific Art Foundation, Newport Beach, CA; and the Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA. Recently, she was featured in the January 2023 issue of Luxe Interiors + Design Chicago magazine. Her paintings have also been featured in the television series, Kings of Napa, on OWN. In 2018, she was selected as a first-place award winner at the Woman Made Gallery’s Midwest Open in Chicago. In 2017, Ashley won the Beverly Bank Best of Show Award at the Beverly Arts Center’s juried competition.

Ashley earned her MFA in Painting from the Laguna College of Art and Design, Laguna Beach, CA in 2017 and her BS in Communication with an Advertising concentration and Minor in Studio Art from Bradley University, Peoria, IL in 2009. She lives in Chicago with her family while working from home and her studio at Mana Contemporary.

Education
2015 - 2017
MFA, Laguna College of Art and Design, Laguna Beach, CA, USA

2005 - 2009
B.S. in Communication, Minor in Studio Art, Bradley University, Peoria, IL, USA

2013 - 2015
Vitruvian Fine Art Studio, Chicago, IL, USA

2008
Instituto Lorenzo de’Medici (LdM), Florence, Italy

Solo Exhibitions
2023
Human | Mother | Black, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL, USA

2022
Human | Mother | Black, The Beverly Arts Center, Chicago, IL, USA

Group Exhibitions
2025
Sacred Motherhood, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA

2024
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Heads Exhibition, Art Division Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
EXPO Chicago, Cynthia Corbett Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
Mama Needs a Raise!, Old Stone House, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Neighbors, South Shore Arts, Munster, Indiana, USA

2023
Fruits of Labor: Reframing Motherhood and Artmaking, Apex Art, New York, NY, USA
Voices - Naissance / Re-Naissance, Unit London, Online
Platform, Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London Art Fair, London, United Kingdom
The Young Masters Autumn Exhibition - Part 2, London, United Kingdom

2022
Embodied and Endangered, Alliance Contemporary, Chicago, IL, USA
In Good Company, Mana Contemporary, Chicago, IL, USA

2021
The Balm: Art for Black Women’s Wellness, South Side Community Arts Center, Chicago, IL, USA
Pushing Through, Dominique Gallery, Artsy
Beauty In the Mundane, Art Mums United, Online

Awards
2022
Women’s Caucus for Art, Emerging Artist Award

2022
Finalist, Artadia 2022 Chicago Award

Gallery Representation
Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London, United Kingdom

Public Collections
Tufts University School of Medicine’s Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice, Boston, MA, USA