Justin Randolph Thompson “Moldy Figs”
Momenta Art
This event has ended.
Momenta Art presents a solo-exhibition by Justin Randolph Thompson in collaboration with Bradly Dever Treadaway and Jason Thompson. For the past ten years, Thompson has created an ambitious and far-reaching body of work that has consisted of community performance, live music, installation and video, interweaving a series of tropes that refer to historical anecdotes concerning cross-continental African experience, including African Americans’ participation in the Spanish Civil War, civil rights activism, quilting, jazz performance, minstrel entertainment, and the shoeshine trade. Through his works, Thompson attempts to invert pre-existing aesthetic hierarchies by de-contextualizing and refining the tropes “from below” to the point of attaining superficial elegance.
For the exhibition Moldy Figs, Thompson presents a new sculptural installation, a multi-seat shoeshine/merry-go-round platform featuring a community performance, in which the artist gold-leafs participants’ shoes, accompanied with a hybrid music performance that incorporates classical and jazz genres. The rotating sculptural installation induces a feeling of infinity, exploring issues of labor and spiritual ascension through repetitive physical movement. The accompanying performance and videos are created in collaboration with composer/jazz saxophonist Jason Thompson, and multi-media artist Bradly Dever Treadaway.
Media
Schedule
from May 22, 2015 to June 28, 2015
Opening Reception on 2015-05-22 from 19:00 to 21:00