Countermythologies
March 7 – July 19, 2020 | NXTHVN, New Haven, CT
Though there is no singular, universal experience of being American, for many, life in this country has been dually defined by the conditions of colonial violence and efforts to survive and thrive in spite of this. The works presented in Countermythologies negotiate between personal and collective histories to offer new ways of understanding American subjecthood and the plurality of identities that can be revealed through an expanded view of time and geographic space. By traversing complex relationships between language, national identity, and belonging, Countermythologies seeks to reveal how past events and called-for futures encounter one another—and asks us to consider how these encounters might guide us in a political landscape of increasing xenophobia and resistance to change. Countermythologies is NXTHVN’s inaugural exhibition and brings together works by Edgar Arceneaux, Firelei Baez, Jesse Chun, Bethany Collins, Sky Hopinka, Jarrett Key, Xaviera Simmons, and Tavares Strachan.
Press
– New Haven Independent, 2020
– Daily Nutmeg (New Haven), 2020
To Break the Ocean
April 11 – May 9, 2018 | AC Institute, New York, NY
To Break the Ocean began as an inquiry into the historical and present day movement of those within the African diaspora. Through examining the infinite connections between water and blackness, the inquiry cast an outward net to include a study into the spatial, mythological and spiritual relationships of water to the body. The exhibition asserts that black people’s current ecological relationships are linked to entrenched powers of colonialism, however through their distinct approaches the artists in this exhibition offer models to survive, reclaim and imagine new objects and languages for their future landscapes. Presenting various approaches to the exhibitions call to action, each artist positions themselves in relation to a constant states of change. Considering water as a structural element simultaneously unbound and vast, To Break the Ocean utilizes a varied set of departure points for interpreting, unpacking and initiating conversations around understanding water as a vital element of the lived experience. This multigenerational exhibition, features works by Simon Benjamin, Kearra Amaya Gopee, Kasem Kydd, Shala Miller, Marilyn Nance, Arthur Simms and the Iyapo Repository.
Zine
