I met Radcliffe Bailey in 1996 at a pivotal moment in both of our careers. I was 23 and he was 28.
I was working in my first gallery job in NYC at the prominent David Beitzel Gallery in Soho and Radcliffe was having his first solo exhibition in NY in his young twenties with dreadlocks.
He was shy, I was shy and we hit it off right away.
Flash forward 17 years later and here we are coming full circle. Well, except:
Radcliffe is no longer shy and neither am I.
We have both reached a very high level of success in our respective careers and Radcliffe has skyrocketed professionally having had works and exhibitions all over the United States and the globe with works in many museum collections including:
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; and the Art Institute of Chicago, among others.
He no longer has dreadlocks, my hair is blonder and we are both very passionate about being in the arts and Radcliffe is very excited to be having his first solo exhibition in Philadelphia as he has family and roots in Philadelphia and New Jersey.
I am excited to be showing my good friend and a very world renowned and respected African American artist in Philadelphia at my gallery.
I hope you will take some time to come out to the gallery on Friday, April 5th from 6:00pm-8:30pm to meet Radcliffe and see his incredible new body of work.
You will be blown away, I promise. I always am, as are the best collectors in the United States.
Hope you can make it!
Bridgette