The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
2024 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
Bio
Yusuf Dubois Davis Abdul Lateef
b1977
Yusuflateef.com
Education – Bowling Green State University – MFA / Columbus College of Art and Design -BFA
- Toledo School for the Arts instructor – Intro-Foundations Visual Arts
- Adjunct Professor – University of Toledo School of Visual Arts
- Radiant City Arts – Co-Founder – a for profit collective focused on bringing quality programming to communities and institutions for the enhancement of lives through the creative process.
- Youth Arts Alliance / youthartsalliance.com – Artist Facilitator for Juvenile detention centers in , Monroe / Ypsilanti Michigan
- Co-founder of the Toledo Black Artist Coalition
Yusuf Lateef utilizes visual art principles as vehicles for realizing the potential for growth in our everyday lives. As an artist, Lateef looks at common experiences as something transformative while working to imagine the physicality of an “ undefended space/life ” through community engagement as art practice.
Artist Statement
‘An artist’s statement’
Yusuf Abdul Lateef
“Trust no future, however pleasant, Let the dead past bury its dead; Act, act in the living present, Heart within, and G-d overhead.” – Frederick Douglass
The artist as a movement.
The artist is moving. Being in the present moment of life acts as a filter for which to view the world. A moving history that brings importance to my material and social environment. Following signposts that are words, a conversation or falling leaves. The notion that simple realities speak to larger ideas. The question of art seems to be everywhere that I am. I can’t escape it or unlearn it even if I earnestly tried.
The artist as signpost.
Acting in accordance with a drive to be present and acknowledge my existence. The question of art allows for a shifting between dimensions of language but anchored in meaning that fulfills a need. The purpose of the artist is to bridge ideas with resources and give reason to space. An artist is a moving point of connection. In order to produce art, there must be a recognition of what is missing. What void can be filled? The question of art is the actualization of a thought that reveals a connection, or allows for recognition of a disconnect.
The artist as ambassador of potential.
Art making is actively witnessing the growth of an idea and finding ways to use what is in proximity to help it along. As I make objects, the question of where do these things belong come to mind. When I see an empty space, a hunger to want to occupy it with something comes over me. The empty corners come alive with potential. The bare wall takes on it’s on aesthetic and finds a place in my art experience. The quiet light that bounces unhindered along the floor invites us in like an open door to a lit room. The artist as ambassador of potential, consistently moving the “zero”.