Pinup art, born in the era of madmen, has long had a diversity problem that has either misrepresented or completely ignored Black women.
For this reason, premiere pinup artist, Thee JP Smith, has launched Betty D’Minx, a Black-owned line of pinup art products that beautifully reflect Black women.
Betty D’Minx designs are created and curated for walls, tables, and bodies through eye-catching wall art and conversation-starting dinnerware with additional product releases slated for early 2022.
The designs represent the unrepresented as people seek reflections of themselves in the things they love. People can decorate their spaces and places in a style they love with beautiful reflections in a genre where Black/BIPOC women are seldom seen.
A decades-long diversity problem finally being resolved
Thee JP Smith says that his goal is to interject inspirational visions of melanated beauty into the vintage iconography of pinup art. This collection has been 14 years in the making. Smith
has quietly honed his skills and mastered his craft with the love of ebony beauties as his muse. Once ignored, now Smith persists with launching a pinup brand in collaboration with women for lovers of pinup art.Smith has watched artists’ work be exclusively labeled ‘urban’ for years, despite the provided backstories, inspirations, and narratives because the subjects and muses were Black and Brown women.
“Through the years and three companies, we’ve built this space to show
love and uplift women who feel unseen, unheard, unloved, undesired, and unwanted. We see you, and we know you love Pinup just as much, if not more than we do. Black women are rarely seen as soft, loving, and tender in public. We’re more than strong, sassy, or righteously angry women trudging through life with our families and the world on our shoulders,” says Erika Parker-Smith, Betty D’Minx’s Chief “Badass & Creative Director.”More than just for walls
Betty D’Minx is for those who wish to see themselves or the women they adore reflected in the Pinup Art they love. Each scene encapsulates tender, solitary moments conveying colorful narratives seldom illustrated with such modern style and grace. The designs are created and curated for walls, tables, and bodies through eye-catching wall art and conversation-starting dinnerware with additional product releases slated for early 2022.
For more information, visit BettyDMinx.com
This story first appeared on Blacknews.com.