ASHLEY JANUARY

b. 1987, Rantoul, Illinois, USA

Ashley January creates contemporary paintings informed by her maternal experience. Exploring themes of preeclampsia, premature birth, and healing after experiencing birth trauma, her newest body of work continues to address the Black maternal mortality and morbidity crisis in America. Ashley became the first recipient of the Women’s Caucus for Art 2022 Emerging Artist Award and will debut her newest series, Environments of a Heavy Joy, at the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London. Last spring, Cynthia Corbett Gallery presented her series at EXPO Chicago 2024. She was selected as a finalist for the 2022 Artadia Chicago Award, and in January 2023, she had the second installment of her solo exhibition, Human | Mother | Black, at Western Illinois University. Most recently, Ashley was included in the group exhibition Mama Needs a Raise! at the Old Stone House in Brooklyn, New York, and was invited to participate in the Art on a Postcard, War Child UK auction. In 2023, she was invited to participate in the Unit London (Voices) online group exhibition Naissance/Re-Naissance.

Tufts University School of Medicine’s Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice acquired multiple paintings from her series. She was also included in the London Art Fair Platform curation through Cynthia Corbett Gallery. Her works have been exhibited in numerous venues, including Apex Art, New York, NY; the Young Masters Autumn Exhibition in London, UK; the South Side Community Art Center, Chicago, IL; Art Division, Los Angeles, CA; SoLA Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA; the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL; South Shore Arts, Munster, IN; Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA; Pacific Art Foundation, Newport Beach, CA; and the Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA. Recently, she was featured in the January 2023 issue of Luxe Interiors + Design Chicago magazine. Her paintings have also been featured in the television series Kings of Napa on OWN. In 2018, she was selected as a first-place award winner at the Woman Made Gallery’s Midwest Open in Chicago. In 2017, Ashley won the Beverly Bank Best of Show Award at the Beverly Arts Center’s juried competition.

Ashley earned her MFA in Painting from Laguna College of Art and Design, Laguna Beach, CA, in 2017, and her BS in Communication with an Advertising concentration and Minor in Studio Art from Bradley University, Peoria, IL, in 2009. She lives in Chicago with her family while working from home and her studio at Mana Contemporary.

"I address the Black maternal mortality and morbidity crisis in America through painting and multimedia. Influenced by my own traumatic pregnancy and survival, the imagery centers the experiences of Black mothers, birthing people, and children who have suffered adverse birth outcomes. Through often imagined spaces reflecting memory and time, mined from narrative recounts and photographic documentation, the figures demonstrate how they cope. Notions around the active choice of healing and finding joy surface while simultaneously challenging the institutional modes in finding systemic solutions. Confronting themes through quiet, often heavy motifs, the environments articulate the imposed health effects disproportionately experienced. All familial perspectives are considered after a tangential birth trauma survival. Continuing the delicately layered conversations surrounding Black maternal health, the images serve as a global call to action for more awareness, research, and the eradication of preventable maternal and infant loss." Ashley January.

Ashley January is represented internationally by Cynthia Corbett Gallery.