A collage of faces and hands gazes out from high on a brick building at the northeast corner of West 63rd and South May streets in Englewood.
Eyes glance in different directions. Hands and fingers touch cheeks, temples, glasses and masks.
The aim is to convey emotion, Isiah ThoughtPoet Veney says of his photo billboard, which went up this summer.
And the message?
“The whole point of the piece was to create a photo representation of ‘What does it look like dealing with anxiety, dealing with your inner problems that we all have going on?’ ” Veney says. “It represents unity and standing in your truth no matter what happens.”
SolarFive stands in front of the Englewood mural in which he is featured. Isiah ThoughtPoet Veney says he hopes to show the photos that comprise “Throwin Hands With My Shadow Work” in a gallery at Young Chicago Authors, an organization with which he has long been involved.
Titled “Throwin Hands With My Shadow Work,” the collage is composed of South Side and West Side artists and musicians Veney photographed in the black-and-white style he prefers. They represent the New Chicago Wave, he says, a collection of artists and community members working for positive change.
Most of the people he photographed live in Englewood, Kenwood, South Shore or North Lawndale. They include Asha Omega, Stock Marley, SolarFive, Mikhal Anthony, CantBuyDeem, Rhea the Second, MVTE, Golden Chyld and DJ Hustlenomics.
Isiah Veney, a photographer, writer and organizer, outside his home in Englewood.
After Veney shot the photos, he says, artists with Englewood Arts Collective shaped them into the collage. The collective’s members have deep Englewood roots and try to boost local artists and their work.
Joe “Cujo Dah” Nelson, collective co-founder, says he appreciates the billboard because “it’s not about the individualn but about the possibility that so many different artists can come together and create something beautiful.”
In 2020, Veney, a writer and photographer, founded INTH3LAND (In the Land), a monthly open mic session that he cohosts to give an opportunity for poets, emcees and singers to work on their craft.
Veney also is the founder and creative director of Unsocial Aesthetics, which says it aims to “uplift the creative community of Chicago showcasing innovators that don’t always get the reception they need” and focus on “shedding light on stories that truly explain the origins of Blk Chicago.”
Veney says he hopes to show the photos that comprise “Throwin Hands With My Shadow Work” in a gallery at Young Chicago Authors. He also envisions a book and T-shirts based on the photographs.
Seeing the billboard come to fruition also reminded Veney of some of the guiding principles in his life, he says — “standing for what you believe in and standing in your truth and standing in morals and values. Since I’ve done that billboard, I’ve been really gravitating to that more every single day.”
