Residency Art Gallery is extremely pleased to present the inaugural installment of The New Contemporaries. This group exhibition will run from June 16th through August 25th, 2018, with an opening reception that will take place on Saturday, June 16th from 6pm to 10pm. The New Contemporaries, Vol I will feature all-new work from Alex Anderson, Felipe Baeza, Lorenzo Baker, Coleman Collins, Aaron Estrada, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Kohshin Finley, texas isaiah, Devin B. Johnson, Kya Lou, Star Montana, Elliot Reed and Vaughn Spann
Throughout history, Black and Latinx human bodies have been subjected to exploitation and experimentation with events such as the Tuskegee experiments, forced sterilization of Latin women during the 60s, slave phrenology experiments and more. In more recent times, Black and Latinx culture is fetishized upon through appropriation within mainstream media. This exhibition will be a survey of how Black and Latinx bodies have evolved outside the space of the aforementioned events to show that we are much more than tools for appropriation and objectivity. Works included in this exhibition will examine ideas of empowerment, acceptance, sexuality, gender identity, culture and community stemming from the artists’ own identities and experiences.
The New Contemporaries project will be a yearly exhibition showcasing new work from emerging artists from around the country. The artists involved are practitioners from varying mediums – including photography, performative works, printmaking, painting and sculpture. Programming surrounding the project will include live performances, community dialogues and artist talks. The New Contemporaries project embodies the core mission of Residency Art Gallery by highlighting artists of color whose bodies of work center around socio-political, gender and community themes. The work shown in The New Contemporaries challenges these artists to recover their personal narratives as people of color existing in today’s society but also creatively reshape history. Residency continues to celebrate these contemporary artists in a space that safe for all genders, races and cultures.
