About

Blackpuffin is a boutique company focusing on equal parts collaboration and strategy while working exclusively with artists from Africa and its diaspora. Our mission is to produce an interactive platform for businesses, institutions and contemporary Black artists to engage and motivate each other through curating and advising. We are dedicated to building an environment where Black voices can thrive and find representation to an international audience.

Team

Modou Dieng | Curator

Modou Dieng was born in Saint-Louis, Senegal. He is a multidisciplinary artist and curator exploring the symbolic and mythological power of pop culture icons through mixed media and hybrid materials. His work constructs a mural of archetypal cultural imagery filtered through the perspective of a split identity between Blackness and Western Philosophy. Dieng has exhibited internationally and is the co-founder of Blackpuffin. Dieng holds an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute.

Dorte Bjerregaard | Director

Dorte was born and raised in Denmark. She is the other co-founder of Blackpuffin. Dorte has over 15 years of experience creating events for art institutions and holds a masters degree in art history and art criticism. She has served on several boards including, the board of Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis, the Board of Directors at the Arts and Education Council and the board of the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Dorte worked as executive producer for barrett barrera’s art fairs and curatorial projects in addition to being founding director of its projects+gallery in St.Louis MO.

Douglas Filiak | Designer

Doug is a graphic designer based in the Pacific Northwest since 2014. Prior to that he spent 14yrs between New York, London, and Los Angeles and continues to collaborate with museums and cultural institutions such as The New York Times, MoMA, The Ford Foundation, and Smithsonian Institute as well as commercial clients: Calvin Klein, MTV, and Virgin. He’s served on the board of directors for the American Institute of Graphic Arts - New York (AIGA/NY) and has a BFA from Michigan State University.

Jesse Siegel | Editor

Jesse Siegel was born in Cancun, Mexico. He is an artist and technologist currently based in The Netherlands. He has an interest in language and culture and worked as editor and curator with art projects in San Francisco, Portland and now Amsterdam. Prior to that Jesse spent 8 years as program manager and linguist for Sony PlayStation within a global team in Japan, United States and Europe. Siegel holds an MA in Artistic Research from the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague.

Alex Bissonnette | Curatorial Assistant

Alex Bissonnette was born in New Hampshire and currently resides in Portland, OR. He is an artist focused on geometric abstraction and the study of physical, social and technological architectures. Prior to working with Blackpuffin he was part of the gallery and studio collective Worksound International and director of the Littman & White galleries in Portland, OR. He is currently a Masters in Fine Arts candidate at Portland State University.

Consulting

Building, maintaining and growing private/public art collections.
Providing digital inventory base for collections.
Experience in packing, crating, shipping and insuring high end works of art.
Customs clearance work.
Estate management of private collections.
Designing and printing of catalogs and other publications.

Curating

Curating and execution of exhibitions.
Project management, ranging from initial logistics to opening of exhibitions.