“In Praise of Shadows” Exhibition

Lyles & King

This event has ended.

Curated by Ebony L. Haynes

Lyles & King presents In Praise of Shadows, a group exhibition curated by Ebony L. Haynes. This exhibition is a revisited iteration of the Yale MFA Painting and Printmaking 2021 exhibition, installed at Green Gallery, New Haven, January 2021.

Featuring new work by: Vamba Bility, Brianna Rose Brooks, David Craig, Danielle De Jesus, Nathaniel Donnett, Leyla Faye, Kate Meissner, Mich Miller, Gabriel Mills, Dala Nasser, Alina Perez, Tamen Pérez, Jonathan Rajewski, Sara Rahmanian, Emma Safir, Chibuike Uzoma, Curtis Welteroth

In all announcements, news headlines, or email subject lines, we can discern an element of time. The root of many-an-adage, we cannot escape time. Instead, we are constantly working to carve out our place within it. It can be assumed that something deserved of a banner denotes that a certain amount of time has passed and has brought with it change: a birth, a death, a graduation, a president. Though not always positive or welcome, it marks something forever evolved. Of course, there is no rigid contrast between change and time but they both exist in a dichotomy between light and dark; where light shines on innovation and progress, and dark shelters tradition and simplicity. We move in the light of our quotidian though we may praise the steadfastness of shadows. Fortunately, we are never navigating totally blind.

Praise requires a certain amount of rebuke. We hold onto fond associations of a memory, a person, a place, only because we know that they could otherwise be lost in the lights that are constantly shining. This praise allows us to discover beauty in that which remains still, and, if we’re lucky, we find moments of reflection to think about what it is we really want.

Of course, our desires may vary but if we’re lucky they can be immortalized into something we hold on to forever. This exhibition brings together artists of today, not tomorrow; A collective of painters and printmakers who have found a way to hang on to a shadow. Their work explores ways to remember a portrait, ways to embrace the past using technologies of the future, they have collected sounds and objects from parts of the world less-visited and brought them to the fore. Grouped together, this exhibition creates a space where seriality and revision are embraced and where contemplation is long and encouraged.

Shadows, paradoxically, cast light on things almost forgotten. And how rich in the shadows is the place of time and memory.

– Ebony L. Haynes