EXHIBIT: Jazz and Fashion: Style, Taste & Class – Al-Karim Powell-Darensburg

September Artist-in-Residence Al-Karim Powell-Darensburg

“Jazz and Fashion: STYLE, TASTE & CLASS” is a display of Harlem Renaissance era entertainers whose personas exuded elegance and were the standard of the day.

Al-Karim has created this art collection of entertainers of the era known as the Harlem Renaissance. Represented are images of Lena Horne, Josephine Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and The Nicholas Brothers.

The artist has melded the idea of Jazz music and the fashions that epitomized the “looks” of those performers. This was considered the “Golden Age” of Jazz and Fashion and these particular people were the stars whose names resounded around the world as icons of these genres.

“I decided, for this exhibition, to create the idea of three dimensional art that would give you the actual feeling that the subject could reach out and touch you. I purposely wanted the viewer to experience the clothing as being ‘actual’.”

Brooklyn born, New York native, Al-Karim Powell-Darensburg has worked in the fields of music, fashion and entertainment for over 35 years. During this time he has trained models, assisted in developing new designers and worked with numerous recording artist and celebrities in the capacity of artist development director, manager, consultant and advisor.

Al-Karim has had the unique privilege of building the first wardrobe department for Black Entertainment Television (BET), where he worked as the VERY FIRST fashion stylist (under fashion director Llewellyn Jenkins) for all on-air personalities and performing guest. While there, he also worked for the Children’s and Entertainment Television division, specifically on the “Teen Summit” television show.

As a visual merchandiser, he has created scenes, set designs and campaigns for stores such as Macy’s, The Hecht Company, Benetton and many smaller boutiques throughout Washington, DC.

Over the years he has perfected his talents of music, photography, make-up artistry and fashion styling. He attended both the world-renowned Howard University, with a concentration in music and Parsons School of Design where he graduated its famed Fashion Design program.

Currently, he is embarking on his clothing brand, American Kouture (www.americankouture.com), creating his signature line. He is also the creator/founder of entertainment INDUSTRY (www.entindustry.com) and Iconic Visions (www.IconicVisions.com).