Underwater New York invites three commissioned artists to critically engage the histories and futures of the Black diaspora along Brooklyn's waterfront. Visual artist Whit Harris and writers Mateo Askaripour and Bernard Ferguson interrogate and reimagine Brooklyn's waters, from Coney Island Creek to the East River and beyond. Join UNY and the artists as they present their original work, talk about their creative processes, and launch the journal's new issue.
When: Thursday March 10, 3:30-5pm
Where: Woody Tanger Auditorium, first floor of the Brooklyn College Library
All current Brooklyn College students, staff, and faculty are welcome!
An exhibit of Whit Harris's work is featured in the Library Lobby during March 2022.
The event and exhibit is cosponsored by the Center for the Study of Brooklyn and the Wolfe Institute for the Humanities.
New York Times bestselling author Mateo Askaripour aims to empower people of color to seize opportunities for advancement, no matter the obstacle. His first novel, Black Buck, takes on racism in corporate America with humor and wit. Askaripour was chosen as one of Entertainment Weekly's "10 rising stars to make waves," and Black Buck was a Read With Jenna Today Show book club pick. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @AskMateo.
Bernard Ferguson (they/them) is a Bahamian poet, essayist and educator whose work has been featured in The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas and elsewhere. Bernard is currently working on a book of nonfiction, The Climate Sirens (Graywolf, 2024), about Hurricane Dorian and the effects of climate change on Small-Island Developing States across the world.
Whit Harris (b. 1985) makes surreal figurative drawings, paintings, and sculptures in monochromatic or limited color palettes. Her recent exhibitions include "We Were Never Gone" at Hauser & Wirth in New York, and "Flesh and Time and Bread and Friends" at Galerie Christine Mayer in Munich. She was selected as an Artist in Residence at Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, Connecticut. Whitney has earned an MFA from Hunter College and a BA from Stony Brook University. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. (Author photo by Camille Breslin.)
Underwater New York is a multidisciplinary digital platform for creative work inspired by the waters of New York City. Since its founding in 2009, UNY has published the work of over 250 artists, writers, and musicians, collaborated with vital New York City institutions such as the American Folk Art Museum, the Brooklyn Historical Society, Poets House and the South Street Seaport Museum, shared its work with St. John's University, Sarah Lawrence College, the Pratt Institute, and the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities, led public explorations of Brooklyn waterfronts, and, with arts collective Works on Water, co-hosted an artist residency on Governors Island.
