(Beverly Hills, CA — October 29, 2019) — UTA Artist Space and Mariane Ibrahim are pleased to present Disembodiment, an exhibition featuring six young, emerging Black American Artists, on view at UTA Artist Space in Beverly Hills from November 22, 2019 – January 25, 2020. Curated by Mariane Ibrahim Lenhardt, Director of Mariane Ibrahim, Disembodiment examines how the Black body—and the Black male body in particular—has been subjected to radicalized theories in America. The array of new and recent work sheds light on the future of the Black body and what living in “post-racial” America entails. This exhibition is the first Mariane Ibrahim has curated in Los Angeles.
Disembodiment features Jarvis Boyland, Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Jerrell Gibbs, Marcus Jahmal, Clotilde Jiménez and Vaughn Spann, a collection of artists whose work upends established narratives around race and identity in order to reshape the viewer’s understanding of reality. Taken as a whole, their work denominates the ascension of a new generation of Black artistry, succeeding the generation of Post-civil rights artists. In unapologetically reassessing the ownership and authorship of their own Blackness, this new generation becomes both subject and object, both narrator of and character in their work.
The works in the show, all figurative, depict serene and playful scenes that celebrate the ordinary routine of existence—an existence under the scrutiny of a critical gaze and its resultant fear, which can also be revoked, expelled or vanished in a moment. They are a balancing act between space, emotion, and intimacy, combining aspects of daily life with those of classical portraiture. The works highlight these intimate moments of self reflection, reclaiming the infinite experience of Blackness.
Disembodiment aims to revoke the authentic and exceptionalist definition of Black art. Underlying post-Black Black art, it is a call for the rejection of the objectification and fetishization of the body by using the artists’ unique, personal experiences that contrast with the collective experience. Black art is diverse, and the stylistic parallels of Black Artists are merely coincidental.
Complementary to the exhibition is an installation across UTA Artist Space’s second and third galleries, which serves as a commentary on the limitations placed on Black boyhood and self-image. It features a child’s swing rendered motionless by the weight of industrial chains, and a screening of Where Are the African Gods?, a film by Rodney Passé. The two galleries are imagined by Chace Johnson (Harun) and Khalil Kinsey (The Kinsey Collection), collectively known as Context Projects.
Bespoke Disembodiment garments and other merchandise designed by Jamie Benson for Context Projects and collaborations with Union Los Angeles will be available for purchase at UTA Artist Space and via UTAArtistSpace.com.
ABOUT UTA ARTIST SPACE
UTA Artist Space is an exhibition venue in the heart of Beverly Hills that is committed to showcasing art by globally recognized talent. Since its establishment in 2016, UTA Artist Space has presented notable exhibitions with interdisciplinary artists and creatives, including Ai Weiwei, Swizz Beatz, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Derrick Adams, Petra Cortright, The Haas Brothers, Larry Clark, and Carpenters Workshop Gallery. Open Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 6pm. Open Monday by appointment. For more information, please visit utaartistspace.com.
ABOUT MARIANE IBRAHIM
Dealer and curator Mariane Ibrahim’s mission is dedicated to the elevation and advocacy of diverse global artistic practices with a particular spotlight on Africa and the diaspora. Currently representing artists from across the world, Ibrahim is driven towards expanding confines of the creative landscape, establishing spaces ‘where conversations start’. Ibrahim closed her Seattle headquarters in 2019 after its founding in 2012, launching her new Chicago-based gallery in September 2019 with a solo-exhibition of artist Ayana V. Jackson. Ibrahim has hosted acclaimed exhibitions from leading and international emerging artists including Amoako Boafo, Clotilde Jimenez, Maimouna Guerresi, Ayana V. Jackson, Lina Iris Viktor and most recently Florine Démosthène. The gallery has expanded their presentations to international art fairs, fostering relationships with private and public institutions. Beyond her work as a dealer, Ibrahim has curated international exhibitions including a collaboration with David Adjaye at the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art at Harvard University and a group exhibition, “Ravelled Threads” at Sean Kelly. For more information, please visit marianeibrahim.com.
ABOUT CONTEXT PROJECTS
Context Projects is a creative collective founded by longtime friends and collaborators Chace Johnson and Khalil Kinsey, with an emphasis on cultural fluency through artistic expression and authentic storytelling. Context Projects serves as a collaborative bridge across art and commerce – with expertise spanning creative concept, art direction, graphic design, artist representation, event production and brand amplification.
Both Chace and Khalil have storied backgrounds and experience in the fields of music, fashion and the arts, playing integral roles in the successes of superstar recording artists, independent streetwear brands and corporate marketing campaigns. Chace is the founder of Harun, a clothing brand, coffee shop and gallery in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles – as well as one half of Agency 78, a music management agency in partnership with Roc Nation. Khalil is a principal and curator for The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection, a renowned traveling museum exhibition considered to be one of the foremost private collections of its kind, with showings at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and EPCOT, Walt Disney World to name a few.
PRESS CONTACTS
Adam Abdalla
President, Cultural Counsel
Jill Robinson
Senior Account Executive, Cultural Counsel