“NEGRO PELIGRO” is the result of a collaboration between multidisciplinary artist Ayo Janeen Jackson and master printmaker Zaire Anderson. This two-color screenprint, which uses the infamous mugshot of political activist Assata Shakur as its source material, showcases core elements of Jackson's artistic practice – the use of a body-based font and engagement with historical racial injustice. Blurring the line between image and object, the print is laser-cut and backed with reflective Mylar to create text behind the photo image, spelling out the Spanish for “Black Danger” (or Spanglish for “the Danger Posed by a Black Person”). It is printed on 280gsm, 22"x 30" BFK Rives printmaking paper and hand deckled. Edition of 9 + 2AP + 1PP in each colorway.
Tar Baby Code, as Jackson's signature font is called, takes its name from the classic African-American folk tale in which the trickster Br’er Rabbit outwits Br’er Fox who has laid a sticky trap for him. While the term "tar baby" evolved into a racial slur, its use here is not for mere shock value. Rather, it is meant to elucidate the term's original meaning – a problem that becomes more intractable the more one resists – as an ingenious metaphor for the African-American predicament. Moreover, this font asks the viewer to engage with the history of Black resistance through literacy and elusive, coded vernacular. Employed in statements of observation, protest and gratitude it renders legible the Black female figure’s expressive force as a site of such resistance.
Ayo Janeen Jackson (b. 1978) maintains a body-based visual art practice that is rooted in her decades-long career in dance. Originally from North Carolina, Jackson graduated with her BFA in Dance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). She holds a Masters in Interdisciplinary Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Jackson established her artistic career with The Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Dance Company, continuing with the French contemporary ballet company, Ballet Preljocaj. After living in Europe, she returned to New York to perform in Julie Taymor’s Turn Off the Dark (Spiderman on Broadway). She continued to assist Bill T. Jones while also producing a body of visual artwork, which led to her participation in gallery shows and exhibitions throughout the United States.
In 2024 Jackson mounted a solo show entitled “Redemption! The Black Unicorn Wormhole” at the Herron School of Art + Design (Berkshire Gallery) at Indiana University Indianapolis. In 2022 Jackson made her film directorial debut with the Afro-futurist short “Tear Suture Scab,” which was scored by the legendary cultural critic and musician Gregory Tate. That same year she was awarded the Artrepreneur Award from her Alma mater UNCSA.
Zaire Anderson (b. 1997) is a Black American printmaker from Fort Greene, Brooklyn. She holds a BFA in Printmaking and with a minor in Global Black Studies from Purchase College. Her practice as an artist and educator is grounded in a passion for learning and community. As an Instructor at Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, Anderson strengthens the skills of collaboration, self-expression, and curiosity through the medium of screen printing. Ideas of culture, proximity, and identity inform her work. Anderson explores subjugation and perseverance of Black Americans using copper etching, screen print, and an exploration of textiles. Her imagery utilizes items such as: fences, gates, landscape, signage, and discarded ephemera to analyze systems, circumstances and structures. Anderson is currently on staff as a Master Printer at Powerhouse Arts.
