THE DISRUPTORS | JULY 8th - July 30th

GROUP ACTIVATION

"THE DISRUPTORS" | group activation

shatters conventions and challenges the status quo, showcasing a

diverse range of artists who push boundaries and provoke thought.

Craig Anthony Miller

Demarcus McGaughey

Naderson Saint Pierre

Ola Balogun

Their bold and unconventional art form defy expectations, dismantling societal norms and inviting viewers to question the world around them.

This activation showcases the power of visual art as a catalyst for change, inspiring conversations and the human experience.

“THE DISRUPTORS" invites viewers on a transformative journey,

where artistic expression becomes a vehicle for challenging the established order and igniting a spark of ideas.

Learn more

THE ARTISTS

Craig Anthony Miller

Craig Anthony Miller (CAM) is a New York based fine artist, muralist, and designer who received his BFA in graphic design from Saint John’s University in New York. CAM incorporates a distinctive style which mimics stained-glass windows inspired by CAM’s childhood church

in Brooklyn and uses animal totems as part of his signature

trademark and style.

Working in primarily acrylic and aerosol paints, both on studio and public surfaces, CAM has created a series of paintings and murals using animal totems and combining the style of stained glass and the energy of the urban landscape with symbols of freedom, strength, and wellbeing.

Based in DUMBO, CAM and his art are a main staple of the community.

In addition to his fine art practice, you can see CAM’s popular murals throughout NYC, Connecticut, and Florida. Two of the most prominent

are at York and Adams Street: The Massive Stampede mural depicting elephants and his Always Be Mindful of Your Ability to Fly

mural featuring birds.

Community service and giving back is an integral part of CAM’s art

practice and his life. He spends his time and talents giving back to local schools in NYC. CAM participates and donates his works to annual fundraising events for underfunded schools and his time to reach,

mentor and help cultivate young artists.

Craig Anthony Miller

Demarcus McGaughey

Demarcus McGaughey (b.1975) a Texas native and New York-based mixed media artist, passionately captures the beauty, strength, and vibrancy of people of color. Inspired by his mother as a child, he sharpened his artistic talents by coloring within the lines of her tracings. Eventually, he tapped into his storehouse of magic that pushed him to color outside the lines and chart an artistic path of his own.

McGaughey specializes in a mixed media style that combines painting, photography, graphic design with paper and fabric collage. This elixir of artistic elements stems from his fruitful stint in corporate advertising and graphic design. Post undergrad, he licensed his time and talents to ad agencies and corporations as a freelance designer. Since then, he’s developed a mastery of graphics, product development, branding,

and brand coaching.

In the early days of his career, he found graphics to be the ideal catalyst

to tell stories for other people. But it was through painting that he discovered an avenue to tell stories, his way. His vibrant portraits capture elements of his world travels, his family, and his community. Each painting, a love statement to the world, declaring, “I see you and I hear you.”

Behind his art, resides a lifelong fascination with human psychology.

McGaughey has always been intrigued by the mind, especially the stories people tell themselves. As a result, in his art he assumes a narrator role—telling heroic stories of his subject’s self-actualization and self-determination. As a certified life coach, he passionately empowers his coaching community that life is what you create it to be. His portraiture work reveals triumphant tales of African American subjects who have manifested their destiny with a particular focus on the eyes, the

window to the soul.

McGaughey also pays homage to cultural influences with elements of pop art, mass media, comic books, and advertising in his pieces. Inspired by Barkley Hendricks, who famously painted Black people in all their coolness, McGaughey portrays his people in a larger-than-life display. Drawing inspiration from Andy Warhol’s acclaimed artistry in pop art and advertising along with Kehinde Wiley’s massive masterpieces,

McGaughey’s work exudes an undeniable flow.

Throughout his 20-year art career, McGaughey has worked with prestigious brands and organizations, including Beyoncé Knowles Carter and beverage giant Dr. Pepper. His work has been highlighted in numerous magazines and galleries stateside in New York and Texas,

and globally in Spain.

He has completed art residencies with Mas el sigols in Barcelona, Nfinit Foundation Arts Residency in Brooklyn, Art Crawl Harlem in New York, Chateau Orquevaux in France and Ma’s House in South Hamptons, NY.

Demarcus McGaughey

Naderson Saint Pierre

Since birth Naderson Saint-Pierre had a destined path as a creator. His hands have been the catalyst for multiple paintings that evoke deep feelings in his viewers. His goal is to provoke thought and conversation that transforms the way that the viewer truly sees the world and their place in society. He started his creative journey as a youth with the basics, drawing being the foundation. In his solitude he used art as a way to detox from life’s daily challenges and allowed the practice to relieve his mind.

For him, something so therapeutic became more than a hobby but a journey in finding himself.

In 2016 after spending much time journaling his path through drawings he upgraded his vehicle for expression by swapping out the pencils for brushes. Painting became his main medium. Acrylic paint paved the way before he delved into the use of oil paints. Operating without a traditional guide, Saint- Pierre became a self taught professional artist through his tenacity and consistency. Dedicating 15 hour painting sessions in his Orlando studio each day, he was determined to refine his skills and to truly live in his purpose. Since turning his passion into a profession,

Saint- Pierre has never lost his hunger for growth and consistently explores new skills, genres and ideas. It’s incredibly hard work, but the love he has for his craft supersedes the sacrifices he has made.

"Naderson Saint-Pierre paints colorful, compelling, black portraiture. While he describes himself as a self-taught artist, his work is a testament to his incredible raw skill and precise technique. Often autobiographical and rich in narrative, his portraits highlight and celebrate an image of black identity, with odes to pioneers in the art world while carving out a style that

is uniquely Saint-Pierre’s own."

NADERSON SAINT PIERRE

OLA BALOGUN

Ola Balogun was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1972. He graduated from Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi in 1999. In 2009, he received the David H. Dale Prize for mixed-media painting from the Society of Nigerian Artists.

He co-founded De Factori studio- a group of Artists who shared similar ideas about art and worked and exhibited together. Since1998 he has shown in a variety of venues, including Art Basel Miami, TAAG Gallery, Miami (2022); 360-degree Healing, Artfully Space Gallery, Los Angeles (2021); New Works, National Museum, Lagos (2017; Not Nasty but Feisty, Alfa Art Gallery, New Jersey (2017); What the Eagle Saw, Thought Pyramid Art Gallery, Abuja (2014); Body Formation, The LightHouse, Lagos (2011); Generational Statement, Thought Pyramid, Abuja (2010); October Rain, National Museum, Lagos (2008); Passage of Time, Pendulum Art Gallery, Lagos (2006); A Ray of Masters, Pan African University, Lagos (2006); Our Experience, Maison De France, Lagos (2004); Nigeria Gold, Okomah Art Gallery, London, (2001). He has two Solo Shows- Encounter, Artworks- Jane Sandelin Gallery, Virginia (2018; Beyond the Limit, Terra Kulture Art Gallery, Lagos (2008). In 2020 Balogun received the City of Los Angeles Recognition Award. He is currently living and working in Newark, New Jersey.

Ola Balogun