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Artist Yusuf Lateef
Brings It All Together At Momentum 2018
By Megan Davis
The Truth Contributor
If there
is one thing Toledo has, it is a thriving artist community.
In collaboration with The Toledo Symphony and sponsored by
Promedica, the Toledo Arts Commission is presenting a
three-day festival of the arts along the up and coming
Riverfront downtown. One artist whose work has been woven
into the landscape of the Glass City is Yusuf Lateef, who,
in partnership with fellow artist Julia Labay Darrah, will
be presenting an interactive piece during the Momentum
festival next month.
Yusuf
Lateef’s artistry is inspired by life around him and he
creates using a variety of media from paint and chalk to
music and sculpting. If you’ve ever attended one of his
exhibitions, you may recall seeing scenes, images and
abstracts illustrated onto doors, frames, chairs and more
traditionally, canvas. His remarkable eye and pensive
approach to his work can transform the most unassuming item
into a masterpiece, and may illustrate a story, raise
awareness about a cause or advocate for someone whose voice
may have been muted.
Lateef’s
artistic abilities are coupled with philanthropy which has
allowed him to create thought- provoking murals throughout
Toledo that have revitalized areas where abandoned
buildings, which had sat empty, are now occupied with new
businesses.
From his
perspective, Lateef sees Momentum as a segue, joining art
with the community for the sake of coming together and he
and Darrah’s contribution to the festival is providing an
interactive “environment” centered around “Family.”
Although
he knew about the event last year, he was unable to attend,
yet when his colleague Julia approached him with the
proposal requirements in hand for this year, she asked him
if he had known about it, following up with a decision to
collaborate on an idea which he describes as “coming
together pretty smoothly.”
This
collaboration was solidified by the artists’ connection as
adjunct professors at Bowling Green State University, where
both obtained their master’s degrees in Fine Art; Darrah
as a sculptor and Lateef as a painter.
While the
perception of the interactive piece, entitled “All Together
No,” is in the eye of the beholder, both artists have
evolved through their career as their directions have
shifted in regards to how we they and use materials. They
are both parents as well as working
artists.
There are many challenges to supporting a family while
having an arts practice. “I feel like, in some ways, those
challenges work in our favor. I think it makes us more
empathetic to what’s happening in the world in small
familial ways as well as larger social aspects.” said Lateef.
Their piece embodies the creative drive that strives
to recognize opportunities to see beyond the normal day to
day. |
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