On Thursday, February 9th from 4-5pm, MoCADA will host a Q&A on Google Hangout with Sable. Those who tune-in will have the opportunity to speak with her directly about the themes at play in her work. Please click here at the time of the event to join the video chat!
The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) is pleased to present a selection of works by Sable Elyse Smith for the tenth anniversary of VOLTA NY 2017. Opening on March 1 on Pier 90 in New York City, Smith’s work will be included in Your Body Is A Battleground curated by Wendy Vogel. Your Body Is A Battleground references the 1989 work of the same name by Barbara Kruger, as each exhibiting artist in this years Curated Section addresses the relationship between personal experience and political structure. Sable’s work considers the effect of incarceration on the body specifically referencing the past 20 years in which she has visited her father as he serves a life sentence in various California-state prisons. Rooted at the core of her practice is a desire to visualize how trauma is etched into our memory and subsequent behaviors.
At a time when public funding for the arts, among other federally funded social programs, is threatened, MoCADA is asking for your help to present what we think is a crucial perspective within the social world and, particularly, the art ecosystem. Our political administration emphasizes structures that reinforce hierarchies across racial, economic, and gendered identities, insisting on subordination as a means for profitable growth. Your tax-deductible donation to our campaign to bring Sable’s work to VOLTA will not only assist with logistical costs, but through the proliferation of her work it will also facilitate an examination on how the structure of incarceration separates an individual from a mentality of freedom as a means to assert state control.
MoCADA has cultivated relationships with emerging artists throughout the Diaspora, nurturing their practices early on in their careers and expanding the scope and reach of their work. As MoCADA continues to grow through various initiatives, including participation in art fairs, expanding to a larger building, and arts programming that foster an international, diasporic community, ensuring that MoCADA maintains an environment where visitors can boldly share their voice is a central priority. MoCADA is eager to work with Sable to advance the conversation on incarceration and its influence on individual behaviors and mindsets through VOLTA’s international platform.
Please support MoCADA in bringing the work of Sable Elyse Smith to VOLTA NY 2017, and donate today.
With Gratitude,
Elliott Brown Jr. / Exhibitions Coordinator
