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Gabrielle Richardson is out to change the game. The model-artist-activist behind Art Hoe Collective is among the new generation of multi-hyphenates shaping fashion and art. She caught the world’s attention with her evocative portrait paintings, and stars opposite personalities such as YouTuber Connor Franta and drag legend Milk in Kenneth Cole’s new Pride campaign. “I just always try to be more and more and more vocal, and share my narrative and kind of have—whether it’s about being black, queer, or a woman—a point,” she shared on the phone from her studio in Brooklyn. “I’m actively trying to be just like a better version of myself and let myself show people who I am.”
With her dual careers and rising profile, Richardson’s creative output comes in many forms. The 22-year-old hosted her first solo show “Seeds” at Philadelphia’s Vox Populi art gallery in January, engaging the audience in a cerebral performance centered on black womanhood using a pomegranate as a visual metaphor. “We are forced to perform this act of catering to other people, like taking seeds out of a fruit, like what we’d do for a child, while simultaneously being withheld,” says Richardson, who finds the intimacy of the medium enthralling. “Doing performance art is so exhilarating—you’re sharing this experience with someone and it’s only happening once. It adds a tension that you can’t really get from just seeing a painting or a photo.”
Taking that creative energy and applying it to her fashion work, Richardson has managed to leverage her platform as a model for positive change. “When I first met my agency they asked me to model not only because I’m physically a model, but because they’re really interested in my story and my voice,” says Richardson. “I think it’s amazing that people not only want me to represent their brand, but also to start a conversation and hear my opinion—I still feel super lucky.” Here, the rising star talks about creating a space for artists of color and what she has in store next.
On Art Hoe Collective, her online gallery space for artists of color.
It’s a space created for us and by us; an online art gallery for queer people of color to showcase their work in a safe environment. So much artwork you see in contemporary spaces and even historical art spaces is mostly done by white, heterosexual artists. There are so many voices outside of that. It’s time that they had a platform.
On the Internet’s impact.
The Internet has just brought a whole new type of art to the fore. You see more digital and a lot more people experimenting with photography and graphic design. There are people like Lil Miquela who is a “fake” girl but also an art piece. So much of what was [lauded] earlier is based on the rich and what they deem as art. Now it’s what the masses want, what reflects the community. In a way it’s a lot more difficult because you’re faced with significantly more judgment than you would’ve [faced] previously, but it means more growth and exposure. It’s a double-edged sword in that way.
On the interplay between fashion and art.
Fashion has surrounded me with so many inspirational, diverse people, which definitely affects my artwork. Because I deal mostly in portraits, it just gives me something extra. Like when I see a cool piece of clothing, I see the color and the texture and I can definitely incorporate that in my artwork, or in my performance. Because I also do performance art I’m always experimenting with my body—how I want to be seen and how I want to be viewed. Being a model is to a certain extent like being an artist, because you can become your own canvas though the shapes you’re making and the energy you’re giving can be viewed in the picture like it’s viewed on a canvas.
On her personal style.
I think my personal style is kind of a mismatch: I feel like I’m part cupid, part construction worker. I love dressing masculine. When I do dress feminine, I love wearing bright colors. I’m either one extreme or the other. I’ll wear a Dickies jumpsuit but underneath I’ll have on a lace turtleneck or something.
On her art-world inspirations.
I really love Carrie Mae Weems. I think she is a genius. Especially in her “Kitchen Table” series. Even though they’re just photos of people at a dinner table, specifically black women at a dinner table, going through their day-to-day lives, it feels like you’re peering into someone’s life and you’re not just looking at a photo. You’re looking at an action, you can kind of see what they’re living and what they’re going through, just through slight expressions and actions. When I see her work it’s like I’m looking at a movie still instead of a photo. On what’s next.
I would really love to be in a movie or a short film. Acting can send a message. Humans are visual and a visual conversation with people is super powerful. It’s one way to enact change—how people view things—and challenge our perception of the world around us.