Heart of the Arts: Demetri Burke Captures Black Identity
10/03/2024
BY BRIAN CARR
Demetri Burke’s artistic journey has transformed his passion into a profound exploration of Black identity and community through various artistic mediums. Burke’s artistic roots trace back to formative family moments spent competing in drawing contests with his father and brother.
He’s currently one of a half dozen artists in residence participating in Midtown Alliance’s Heart of the Arts program that connects artists with property owners who provide temporary ground-floor studio workspaces in the district. We sat down with Burke in his studio across from Emory University Hospital Midtown to learn more about what he’s working on. Read more:
Creating Art as a Vehicle to Explore Black Identity
“Art has been a passion since I was very young,” Burke said. “And the more I've grown into this life, it's been more of a study into what I'm interested in depicting, what moves me as an artist, and what I can transform a space into.”
Central to Burke's work is his exploration of Black identity, shaped by his personal history and experiences growing up in Atlanta. Burke’s art also serves as a vehicle for storytelling and documentation. But he adds that his chief objective is for the work to show how complex, beautiful, and fully realized a subject can be when the nuances of their Blackness are shown.
“Some of my findings have been just for the sake of investigation, of storytelling, and of documenting,” Burke said. “That history, just of my being, is being in Blackness, being in Black communities, having a Black family.”
Blending Mediums and Adding Vibrancy to a Midtown Activity Center
In his creative practice, Burke employs a diverse range of media, from oil paints and charcoal to mixed media and found images. He describes his work as rooted in figurative art, focusing on the environment around him.
“I don’t think it’s too structured into me being titled as an oil painter or illustrator,” he said. “But more so how investigative, how explorative can I be in whatever medium that crosses my path. And those mediums have stuck over time.“
Through his exploration with various mediums, Burke has a unique way of integrating found images to spark curiosity about the past. It could be an image from the '70s in a forgotten photo album. Or a print ad from the '80s. Or maybe an old recording of a TV show from the 2000s.
“The past is the present,” Burke said, reflecting on how found images can tell powerful stories in his works about identity, from expressions of joy to discomfort.
Burke’s residency in Midtown has provided him with a unique vantage point in a studio space that not only fosters creativity but also encourages collaboration, enabling artists to engage with the surrounding community. Burke also expressed his consciousness of creating art directly across the street from Emory University Hospital Midtown, a place of healing.
“It's really nice to have that collaborative energy that Midtown Alliance curated for us,” Burke said of the Heart of the Arts program. “Being in the city is super cool. Just having this presence of arts and culture all around you I think is really inspiring. We get to bring in some movement, some light and laughter.”
Watch: Demetri Burke talks about his work in this short clip recorded at his studio in Midtown.
New Works You Can Look Forward to Experiencing
One of Burke’s lasting legacies in Midtown after his residency concludes is the mural he created on Peachtree Street in collaboration with fellow Midtown artist-in-residence Sayma Hossain. Titled I Found My Future in the Wind, the installation captures the innocence and joy of childhood, featuring actual images of Burke and Hossain as children paired with abstract representations of Atlanta's landscape and elements of nature, including magnolias and cherry blossoms.
“We wanted to create something light with movement, with joy, and expression,” Burke said. “We also had the opportunity to think about the hospital. When people are looking out the windows from Emory University Hospital Midtown, what are they seeing? What could be a source of inspiration, comfort, and care? So that's how we developed it.”
Looking ahead, Burke is excited about his participation in Atlanta Art Week, where he is showcasing new works that build on themes of companionship, desire, and romance. Southern Fruit is on view at the studio of Jeffrey Wilcox Paclipan & Sharon Walker inside Murphy Rail Studios.
Enriching the Human Experience
Burke’s participation in Midtown Alliance’s Heart of the Arts studio residency program reminds us that art is a form of personal expression and a powerful means of connecting with the broader human experience.
“I think at its most basic level and integral level, this program allows you to be an artist, which is not the easiest thing to do,” Burke said. “And then after that, I got to have fun, I got to feel supported, and I got to do some really incredible projects.”
