Leo Asemota
Radcliffe Bailey
Sonia Boyce
Sandra Brewster
Delio Delgado
Godfried Donkor
Denniston Ewan
Stephen Fakiyesi
Dana Inkster
Roshini Kempadoo
Wangechi Mutu
Keith Piper
Rob Pruitt
Dionne Simpson
Mickalene Thomas
Camille Turner
Nari Ward
Carrie Mae Weems
Pamela Edmonds
Sally Frater
Reimagining Black History Month. Featuring works in print, video, photography, painting, drawing, and sculptural installation, the exhibition examines the confluence of history and memory and its relationship to contemporary art and representational space.
Curated by Pamela Edmonds and Sally Frater
Presented by Third Space Art Projects
Participating Artists: Leo Asemota, Radcliffe Bailey, Sonia Boyce, Sandra
Brewster, Delio Delgado, Godfried Donkor, Denniston Ewan, Stephen Fakiyesi,
Dana Inkster, Roshini Kempadoo, Wangechi Mutu, Keith Piper, Rob Pruitt,
Dionne Simpson, Mickalene Thomas, Camille Turner, Nari Ward, and Carrie Mae
Weems
28 Days brings together the diverse work of Canadian artists with that of
their international contemporaries in the United States and the United
Kingdom to explore the staging of Black History Month. Featuring works in
print, video, photography, painting, drawing, and sculptural installation,
the exhibition examines the confluence of history and memory and its
relationship to contemporary art and representational space. Celebrated in
the US and Canada in February, and in UK in October, the annual observance
has sparked increased debates in recent years about the value of a
designated month committed to the history of one particular race. While
some artists refuse to show their work during Black History Month
exhibitions as a political stance against the marginalization of their
practices, others feel it is one of few opportunities they have to
participate in the broader cultural landscape, particularly with work that
addresses issues of Black identity and visual culture. At the current
moment, in which the idea of "Post-Blackness" continues to be debated
within contemporary arts discourse, the ways in which the politics of
representation are related to Black History Month is also being questioned,
particularly within our increasingly globalized environment.
Exploring the impact of African diasporic and Black expressive cultures on
the evolving geography of global contemporary art, the artists create an
international dialogue that complicates and transgresses prevailing notions
of representation, memory, history, nationalism, and identity as they are
presented in the site of the gallery.
28 Days is presented by Third Space Art Projects, a Canadian-based
curatorial collective co-founded in 2009 by Pamela Edmonds and Sally Frater
as a forum for the promotion, presentation, and development of contemporary
art projects that engage transcultural and diasporic communities, with a
particular focus on visual cultures of the Black Atlantic.
28 Days has been generously supported by grants from the Ontario Arts
Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, and TD Bank Group.
Georgia Scherman Projects
133 Tecumseth Street, Toronto, ON,
416-554-4112
www.georgiascherman.com
IMAGE CREDIT: Godfried Donkor, London Mob, 2001. Inkjet print. Courtesy of the artist.
Opening January 18th
Justina M. Barnicke Gallery Hart House
Hart House, University of Toronto
7 Hart House Circle
Tuesday–Friday, 10:00 am–5:00 pm
Saturday, 11:00 am–5:00 pm or by appointment