CURRENT
SEEKING DISCOMFORT
RODNEY ELLIS
JULY 26TH - SEPT 6
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A REFLECTIVE MILESTONE IN MY ARTISTIC JOURNEY, TRACING A PATH FROM EARLY VULNERABILITY TO EMERGING CLARITY AND GROWTH. THROUGH SHIFTING TONES AND EVOLVING THEMES, THE COLLECTION EXPLORES SELF-DISCOVERY, ACCEPTANCE, AND THE UNIVERSAL COMPLEXITIES OF BEING HUMAN. IT SERVES AS BOTH AN ARCHIVE OF WHERE I’VE BEEN AND A TESTAMENT TO THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF TIME AND INTROSPECTION.
CURRENT
GOD'S SON
RODNEY ELLIS
JULY 12TH - SEPT 6TH
GOD’S SON IS A CONTEMPLATIVE FILM THAT DELVES INTO THE POWER AND NECESSITY OF SURRENDERING. THROUGH INTIMATE MOMENTS AND UNIVERSAL TRUTHS, IT REVEALS THE DEEP INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE. WHILE THE FACES AND SETTING MAY CHANGE, THE EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPES REMAIN FAMILIAR—REMINDING US THAT THE LESSONS LIFE TEACHES ARE OFTEN THE SAME, NO MATTER WHO WALKS THROUGH THEM.
PAST
MISSISSIPPI... RETURN
TO THE COCOON
TONY LUELLA CHALMERS
1 MARCH - 14 APRIL
EXCAVATING THE ORIGINS OF BLACK THROUGH WATER, LAND, AND SPIRIT REVEALS THE BRUTAL AND COMPLEX ORIGINS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE MISSISSIPPI REGION. THIS EXHIBITION CONFRONTS THE FORCED LABOR, RAPE, AND VIOLENCE THAT SHAPED THE LIVES OF WEST AFRICANS BROUGHT TO THE AREA, HIGHLIGHTING HOW THEIR SURVIVAL UNDER THESE CONDITIONS LED TO THE CREATION OF A NEW CULTURAL AND ETHNIC IDENTITY.
THROUGH THE WATERWAYS THAT CARRIED THEM, THE LAND THAT BOUND THEM TO BRUTAL LABOR, AND THE SPIRITUAL PRACTICES THAT EMERGED FROM PAIN AND RESILIENCE, THE SHOW UNCOVERS THE WAYS AFRICAN, NATIVE AMERICAN, AND EUROPEAN FORCES COLLIDED. IT EXAMINES THE FORMATION OF A PEOPLE THROUGH EXPLOITATION, CULTURAL BLENDING, AND SURVIVAL, HONORING THE STRENGTH AND INGENUITY OF THOSE WHO TRANSFORMED OPPRESSION INTO ENDURING TRADITIONS AND A NEW CULTURAL IDENTITY.
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