Radical Beauty Part 5

Radical Beauty Part 5

Love Our Island Artwalk Logo

Rhythmix Cultural Works Presents

Love Our Island Art Walk

Radical Beauty, Part 5

Radical Beauty, Part 5 Event Photos


Featuring Art Installations by
Nicole Mueller, Najib Joe Hakim and Charlie Sullivan

Music by:
Barrio Manouche, Gadje 5 and Omar & Friends

Friday, September 14 | 6 pm-9 pm
On Santa Clara Ave between Park and Oak Streets

Radical Beauty 5 Map

Join Rhythmix Cultural Works and Downtown Alameda at the 5th Radical Beauty event in the Love Our Island Art Walk Series. On Friday, September 14th from 6-9pm colorful light will spill through the windows on the corner of Park and Santa Clara in downtown Alameda while sounds of Spanish gypsy guitar and driving percussion flow from the neighboring courtyards and patios to tempt your ears and your feet. Poetic images will waft across storefronts and the air will buzz with music and conversation.

Nicole Mueller Window Installation

Untitled, window installation, 2016, Dura-Lar, spray paint temporarily affixed to window panes by Nicole Mueller. Image courtesy of the artist.

Love Our Island Art Walk is an art-centric creative placemaking project that utilizes public art, storefront art installations, and music performances to activate Alameda’s historic downtown districts. Support for Love Our Island Arts Walks come from the California Arts Council, City of Alameda Public Art Commission, the Downtown Alameda Business Association and Rhythmix 2018 Sponsors.

Najib Hakim Migration

Migration, 2017, photography by Najib Joe Hakim. Image courtesy of the artist.

About the Artists

Nicole Mueller

By bringing the tradition of stained glass and its connotations of spiritual or sacred spaces, into a new context with impermanent materials, Nicole Mueller creates an abstract collage that is ephemeral, light-filled, and intentionally beautiful.

Her vibrant collage-work relies on the interplay of color and light, equally dynamic during the day and at night — capture the attention of passersby, beautifying an otherwise unimagined storefront, and offering an expression of optimism filled with both color and light.

According to Mueller, art can offer us respite, moments of reflection, wonder, and joy. An insistence on beauty, especially today, is an act of resilience and presentation of hope. Anything that can point us towards these ideals is a valuable and worthwhile goal, especially if it can create a shared experience in the midst of a public setting, catch us off guard, or grab our attention in an unexpected place.

Najib Joe Hakim

Exploring the themes of migration, borders, the environment and conflict, Najib Joe Hakim presents still-frame image sequences paired with short poetic statements. Each sequence benefits from a synergy of suggestive meaning and beauty that the individual frames lack.

According to Hakim, we live in a new dark age in which civilian lives are demeaned and de-humanized; science and nature are scoffed at; and atavistic fears send us scurrying toward our basest natures. Hakim feels that beauty, or coming upon a beautiful work of art unexpectedly, may help remind us of our loftier, sacred and shared aspirations.

Charlie Sullivan

Charlie Sullivan repurposes found and discarded items, combining them with lenses and mirrors to create emotionally inspired freestanding sculptures and hangings. Everyday items are rearranged in a playful balance and are built to be viewed in the round to encourage shifting perspectives.

Musician Bios

Marcel's Nose #2

Marcel’s Nose #2, Charlie Sullivan. Image courtesy of the artist.