Blending cotton, Black hair, rice paper, and shades of blue, Adebunmi Gbadebo considers the materiality of lineage. Her impressive solo exhibition at Claire Oliver Gallery, A Dilemma of Inheritance, focuses on her True Blue portraits. The series gathers artifacts from two South Carolina plantations (both also named True Blue), including one in Fort Motte, back to which Gbadebo traces her family.
True Blue‘s first 21 portraits subsume the architectural plans of the other plantation — now a golf course on Pawley’s Island. Cotton pigmentation, hair dye, pulverized denim, and indigo yield a warm blue gradient among portraits bearing coiled and loc’ed hair donated from around the world. The remaining 21 are named for enslaved individuals, whose assigned names have been reclaimed from plantation owner George Pawley’s will.
Gbadebo deepens her textual exploration of memory in the large-scale work, “A New and Accurate Map of the Land Formerly Known as Negroland” (2020). Black hair overtakes salvaged maps of “the New World” and the True Blue plantation, drawn by cartographer Emanuel Bowen, collapsing the problematic histories of the West African slave trade with 18th century mappings of the New World. Here, Gbadebo allows for a new map to emerge.
Adebumni Gbadebo: A Dilemma of Inheritance continues through November 14 at Claire Oliver Gallery (2288 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, Harlem, Manhattan).
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Your Concise New York Art Guide for December 2022
Your list of must-see, fun, insightful, and very New York art events this month, including art made during the first stock market crash, a homage to feline friends, and the 10-year anniversary of a crucial public art initiative.
Whose Stripe Is It, Anyway?
Astrid Dick was told that she could not paint stripes because Sean Scully and Frank Stella have done so before her, a patently foolish statement.
Sculpture Space Opens Applications for 2024 Artist Residencies
Hrag Vartanian, Hyperallergic’s editor-in-chief, is one of the guest jurors reviewing applications for the two-month residency in Utica, New York.
Art Problems: I Don’t Make Art to Sell; Do I Still Belong in the Art World?
Paddy Johnson answers your questions about art fairs, visibility, and frustrating studio visits.
The Philippines’ Turbulent Past Captured in Film
The 26th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival’s Philippines retrospective highlights early documentation of the country, local responses to the Marcos dictatorship, and contemporary work.
Bang on a Can Presents Two Concerts at New York’s Jewish Museum
Hear a band of improvisers led by Rajna Swaminathan and a performance of Morton Feldman’s “For John Cage” in programs inspired by the exhibition, “New York: 1962-1964.”
Dolly Parton Wants to Open a Museum in Nashville
The country music legend says the museum will be part of a “Dolly Center.”
Critics Rebuke “Climate-Killer” Museum in Germany
Herzog and de Meuron’s design for the Museum of the 20th Century in Berlin has been accused of poor energy efficiency and called a “structural nightmare.”
Euphoria by Julian Rosefeldt at Park Avenue Armory
An immersive film installation that explores the euphoric aspects of capitalism and the history of greed.
Opportunities in December 2022
From residencies, fellowships, and workshops to grants, open calls, and commissions, our monthly list of opportunities for artists, writers, and art workers.
Hyperallergic’s Most Popular Gifts This Holiday Season
Looking for some holiday gift inspiration? We’ve got you covered with this roundup of accessories, games, and more that have been flying off the shelf this season.
SCAD Collaborates With Cerámica Suro for Design Miami/
SCAD’s booth at Design Miami/ features glazed tiles by alumni artists Nicolas Barrera, Lauren Clay, Gonzalo Hernandez, Cory Imig, Abel Macias, and Nikita Nagpal.
MoMA Trustee Leon Black Accused of Rape, Again
Plaintiff Cheri Pierson accuses the disgraced financier of a “brutal” sexual attack at the Manhattan mansion of Jeffrey Epstein.
A Matriarchal Legacy of Women Warriors
At the heart of What if the Matriarchy Was Here All Along? is the idea that matriarchy never really died but rather has transformed.