Gravity

About

Gravity includes a series of backboard paintings, produced by the artist’s repeated attempts to jump and hit the canvas with his hand. The strenuous mark-making of this gesture undercuts the precision of minimalist painting while physical striving and falling become a metaphor for the precariousness of freedom in America. Gravity also includes photographs of models wearing low-slung pants, a trope of urban hip hop culture that has been widely criminalized. Captured in diffused light and printed on satin, these normally contentious garments become abstracted, painterly images that blur flat photograph and sculptural object while examining the visual poetics underlying the way intersecting cultures assign value to race and gender in America. Trained primarily as a photographer, Alekhuogie takes a multidisciplinary research approach that spans textiles, collage, video, photography, and sculpture. There will be vibrant programming throughout the run of the show with an opening reception on February 10 from 2 – 5 PM. The gallery is located in Barnsdall Park (4800 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles) and is open from 11- 4 PM on Thursday through Sunday with free admission. For more information, visit www.lamag.org