Artist Tiffany Conway is Bringing the Bay to the Florence Biennale

When Bay Area artist Tiffany Conway got an email in May of this year suggesting she apply to the Florence Biennale, she didn’t think it was real.

Founded in 1997, the prestigious art exhibition has been a major platform for renowned artists of all sorts, while bolstering the careers of emerging creatives.

Now — after properly vetting the invitation, applying and being accepted — Conway will show her work at this year’s event in mid-October.

“It is a major opportunity,” says Conway during a recent call.

Ahead of the trip to Italy, Conway will host a pop-up show at The Factory Bar in Richmond this Saturday, Sept. 27, and also show her work as a part of the Musuem of the African Diaspora’s Nexus: SF/Bay Area Black Art Week on Oct. 4 and 5.

With all she has brewing, Conway is especially excited for the trip to Europe. She’ll be one of 600 artists from all over the world, and the only Black woman from the U.S., showing art that aligns with this year’s theme of “Light and Darkness.”

The concept, says Conway, is open to interpretation. Which is ideal, as her work doesn’t exactly embrace darkness — at least not at first glance.

Conway’s oil-based paintings are full of electric blues and pastel pinks that accent her brown-skinned characters. She often places her subjects in natural landscapes, and adorns them with floral designs. “You can look at my work and see that it’s very colorful,” she says, “and that is to imply a sense of joy.”

But, she clarifies, those bright colors come from darkness, literally and figuratively.

When she’s painting, Conway does a color test to ensure her colors are balanced. “I usually do that by taking a picture of the painting, and then changing the filter to black and white or gray scale,” she explains.

Balancing the bliss of illumination with the heft of the shadows is a theme that’s ingrained in Conway’s art before paint even touches the canvas.

“I work with the idea of transmuting grief to joy,” says the Richmond-based painter. It’s her way of cultivating her own world, based on “the memory and history of the Black experience, primarily the Black American experience,” she says.

“The goal of my work is to express and get to a place of joy. And I do that by using the Black body as a vehicle, and also using color as a form of language.”

Conway has been painting for over 15 years. Aside from a few classes at Academy of Art University, and a couple of community college courses in the East Bay, she’s largely self-taught. “My style,” she says, “was kind of cultivated over the years, and I really locked in about five years ago at the beginning of the pandemic.”

Over the past few years Conway’s work has been part of a traveling art fair, which introduced her artwork to the people connected to the Florence Biennale.

Honored to be part of the forthcoming exhibition, Conway is clear that external validation isn’t a necessity, but it does give her some reassurance.

“For me,” says Conway, “it is really just confirmation that I’m on the right path.”

She reflects on the number of artists who’ve stepped away from their craft due to social pressures and financial burdens, adding that she, too, has thought about hanging up the paint brush. “So, having this opportunity come to me in this crazy time that we’re living in,” she says, “it just really feels like… this is meant to be, and this is the correct path for me.”

Conway will be in Florence from Oct. 18–26, and is looking forward to expanding her global reach, connecting with gallerists and curators from the across the map and showing the world what she’s made of.

“It gives me the opportunity to shine brighter,” says Conway.

Tiffany Conway hosts a pop-up event at The Factory Bar in Richmond on Saturday, Sept. 27, and shows her work as a part of the Musuem of the African Diaspora’s Nexus: SF/Bay Area Black Art Week on Saturday, Oct. 4 and Sunday, Oct. 5.