curated by Jamillah Hinson
featuring: Keren Alfred, Krista Franklin, Kearra Amaya Gopee, Liz Gre, Franchesca Lamarre, and Ashley Page
CURATOR’S STATEMENT:
time now for ghosts is the exploration of traditional nature centered spiritualities, and realities, as they are interpreted through the practices of Black artists working with an afrofuturist lens and hand. This is an exploration of the future, as we return to our pasts. time now for ghosts looks into the intersections of time and relativity, to expand our understanding of when - what does it look like for our ghosts to come from the future? This question is asked within the presence of the Black body and the Black consciousness within the natural world, whether that world is terrestrial or beyond the cosmos.
Centered on the intersections of blackness, afrofuturism, and the natural world, this exhibition is a survey of Black arts traditions, ranging from collage and assemblage to visualizing our spiritual traditions and ancestral tales. Black American and Afro-Caribbean cultural markers, such as mythical presences and communal healing have a strong presence throughout the show. In conversation with the study of ancestry and culture, a practice of natural sciences, space, and form is evident.
Though the practices of these artists vastly surpasses the themes showcased, these particular strings are woven solidly into the presented works of the artists in time now for ghosts. Artist and poet Krista Franklin’s work concerns Black metaphysics, Black Americana, and in some cases the perception and delineation of time in a historical context. Beautifully mirroring one another’s work, artists Liz Gre and Keren Alfred have vastly different physical practices that effortlessly examine generational knowledge, at times trauma, and the impact our world has on our beings. As ethnographers and artists, identity, community, and culture seep into their work. Franchesca LaMarre engages with Black American and Haitian cultures and traditions through poetry and photography, presenting work that centers communal and ancestral healing. Ashley Page and Kearra Amaya Gopee fluidly investigate identity and space. In investigation of queerness and identity, as well as, the complexities of their environments and lived experiences, both artists present an intimate look into the intricacies of our collective bodies in multiple, and infinite, forms.
In the most romantic terms, this show is what has been peeking from under heavy moss and around dense bushes, standing on ocean floors and riverbeds, as it begins dusting our faces with ancient light as our ancestors descend upon us.
Much of the Black artistic traditions in the West stem from the Caribbean Basin and the Southern United States, so much of our history that has seeped into the earth is in danger. However, it runs within and much deeper than artistic traditions, it captures a moment in modernity, maybe for the last time, we have our pasts to go back too. As waters rise, generations of black histories, narratives, and lives once again sink, creating both panic and reflection. time now for ghosts is a collection of voices, images, and thought entrenched with spirituality, mysticism, and identity.
Artists Keren Alfred, Krista Franklin, Kearra Amaya Gopee, Liz Gre, Franchesca LaMarre, and Ashley Page come together to collect these histories and present a living library of our shared pasts.
-- Jamillah Hinson
Jamillah Hinson is a grassroots archivist and curator focused on exploring the works and concepts derived from the rich diversity found throughout the African diaspora. Hinson’s work often delves into the everyday life of Black people across various cultures and ethnicities, examining and glamorizing often erased components of Blackness in the Americas and the Caribbean. She works with cultural material to preserve Black history, both on a communal and familial basis.
WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION:
This project is generously supported by:
