The Foxworth Theory with Eugenia Foxworth S1E8 – Souleo and Lavett Ballard

BIOGRAPHY

SOULEO

Peter “Souleo” Wright creates and produces entertaining and informative events, media and artistic projects. As a journalist he has written for Newsweek, Ebony, New York Press, Black Enterprise, XXL, Sister 2 Sister, and Rolling Out. He’s also been featured on CNN’s The Nancy Grace Show, MTV’s FNMTV Premieres, Access Hollywood and The Insider, and in the New York Post, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Boston Globe, BET.com, and Match.com. Souleo recently partnered with the Harlem Arts Alliance and created the column “Harlem Arts Alliance Presents: On the ‘A’ w/ Souleo” which is now syndicated online across seven media properties including Ebony.com, SoulTrain.com, New York Amsterdam News, and Rolling Out. In partnership with the New York Public Library, he produces LGBT, financial literacy and creative programming. As a curator, his notable exhibitions include “eMerge: Danny Simmons and Artists on the Cusp,” eMerge 2.0: Melvin Van Peebles and Artists on the Cusp, the first-ever AARP exhibition “Lasting Legacy: The Journey of You,” and Harlem’s unprecedented multi-gallery collaborative exhibition “Motown to Def Jam.”

LAVETT BALLARD

Lavett Ballard is an Artist, Art historian, Curator, and Author. She hold a dual Bachelor’s in Studio Art and Art History with a minor in Museum Studies from Rutgers University, she also has an MFA in Studio Art from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Ballard’s art has been commissioned as a cover for Time Magazine special Woman of the Year double edition released March 2020. Among her accolades she is a 2021 Yaddo Artist residency fellow, named by Black Art in America as one of the Top 10 Female Emerging Artists to Collect. Ballard’s work has been in film productions and exhibited at galleries and museums nationwide. Ballards work has been acquired by prominent collections such as the African American Museum of Philadelphia, the Colored Girls Museum, the Grant Hill and Petrucci Family Foundation Collection, and Syracuse University Community Folk Arts Center, and Jule Collins Smith Fine Art Museum at Auburn University Collections.

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Souleo and Lavett Ballard stopped by to chat with host, Eugenia Foxworth of The Foxworth Theory about the new art on display in Newark at the “Dionne Warwick: Queen of Twitter” Exhibit. Yes, Dionne is at it again and she as usual is a hit with twitter and young movers and shakers of the internet, who seem to go viral each time she tweets something. Dionne Warwick: Queen of Twitter is an art exhibition inspired by a single Twitter account user: @DionneWarwick. In 2020, the legendary entertainer’s account went viral and was covered by major media outlets. Her commentary–on everything from perplexing celebrity stage names (yes, we’re looking at you, The Weeknd and Chance the Rapper) to social justice issues–has offered laughs, wisdom, and comfort for an intergenerational audience during the Covid-19 pandemic and civil unrest. In this exhibition, artists have created specially commissioned works referencing the humorous, sassy, profound, and inspirational tweets by Ms. Warwick. The works range from site-specific installations to mixed media pieces exploring Ms. Warwick’s social justice and spiritual background and that sharp wit that makes her everyone’s favorite “Auntie.” Accompanying these works is an intimate selection of archival material spotlighting her illustrious and groundbreaking career. The exhibit has been extended.