Exhibitions – South Dallas Cultural Center

She Blinded Them With Science Exhibition

karlabarthelmy — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 00:51:36 +0000

She Blinded Them With Science is a body of work created by artist Andrea Tosten using text and pattern to explore social constructs, binary thinking, and the nature of existence. Tosten’s works on paper incorporate the processes of hand-lettering, drawing, origami, and the zoetrope. Working with a minimal amount of materials is important for her to convey a silent strength with a sense of the ephemeral nature of each moment in reflection upon a prominent figure of her culture, Queen Nanny, leader of the Windward Jamaican Maroons, who was almost erased from history.

Photographs from She Blinded Them With Science artist talk with panelist Dr. Marta Torres, Dr. Ashley Wade, and Classi Nance. (Photos: SDCC Staff / Imani Chet Lytle)

Photographs from opening reception. (Photos: SDCC Staff / Imani Chet Lytle)

Abeng the Gumbay (Video: Andrea Tosten)

In her research of Queen Nanny, four words stood out: ohemmaa (means queen mother in Kromanti (the language of the Jamaican and Surinamese Maroons heavily influenced by Twi (the language of Ghana)), xaymaca (means land of wood and water in Arawakan (the language of the indigenous people of South America and the Caribbean)), abeng (means horn in Kromanti), and gumbay (means drum in Kromanti). Nanny was an obeah woman (a woman who practices traditional African religions) who is portrayed historically as having used her powerful science to protect her people.

Tosten’s thoughts and emotions connected with the sounds made by the abeng and the gumbay, her continued study of Queen Nanny, and exploration of her mother’s homeland of Jamaica inform the composition of the work in this show. The video included in the exhibition (with music by Dashon Moore and edited by Ciara Elle Bryant) features sounds by the abeng and gumbay and distorted footage from Moore Town (formally Nanny Town) that she filmed during a trip to Jamaica at the end of May in 2022.

She Blinded Them With Science is her sixth solo exhibition. Tosten often utilize letterforms, paper, and sewing to recontextualize and conceptualize her Catholic upbringing, background, and where she fits in how history has unfolded.

I want to be active and present, a part of my community from my perspective as a Black woman. I am often engaged in an open exploration of social constructs, how they affect me, and how I can shift and change them. As a maker, I’m very into technique and love to indulge in perfection. Even as I work towards that perfection in a very technical way, the materials are going to do what they are going to do. Visual conversations between me, community, gender, race and the material form the identity of my work.
Andrea Tosten

Andrea Tosten

Andrea Tosten is a calligrapher and a bookbinder. She has a Bachelor of Science in BioMedical Science from Texas A&M University and a Master of Liberal Arts in Museum Studies from the University of Oklahoma.

Common themes explored through my work are social constructs, binary thinking, and the nature of existence. Influences include Annette Lawrence, Janine Antoni, Tierney Malone and Glenn Ligon.

“I want to be active and present, a part of my community from my perspective as a Black woman. I am often engaged in an open exploration of social constructs, how they affect me, and how I can shift and change them. As a maker, I’m very into technique and love to indulge in perfection. Even as I work towards that perfection in a very technical way, the materials are going to do what they are going to do. Visual conversations between me, community, gender, race and the material form the identity of my work.” -Andrea Tosten

She Blinded Them With Science is free and open to the public Dec. 2, 2022 through Feb. 4, 2023. Click here for more information on our current exhibitions.

Black Legend Heirloom | Camika Spencer

karlabarthelmy — Sat, 19 Nov 2022 02:26:00 +0000

As a 2022 component of the Juanita J. Craft Artist Residency, the Black Legend Heirloom, created by Camika Spencer, is as project that fosters artistic growth for adults by teaching the process of creating through the technical use of acrylic painting, collage, and design on 6-inch paper Mache boxes. The project focuses on South Dallas, Juanita J. Craft, and the history of Dallas as it pertains to themes such as civil rights, family, social justice, and legacy. The heirlooms were showcased at the South Dallas Cultural Center and then donated to contribute to the artistic cannon and legacy of the Black Dallas artist movement.

(Photo: SDCC Staff / Imani Chet Lytle)

“Black Legend Heirloom is the first whole whisper of skill I have been able to express as a visual creator. I am making solid my voice. I put painting, collage, design, Decoupage and paper mache to use in a way that captures memory in alter form to house memory, legacy, heritage, and inheritance.”
Camika Spencer

About the artist: Camika Spencer M.A., M.F.A is an Oak Cliff native of Dallas, Texas. She is a best-selling author, award-winning playwright, and educator. In 2019 she was announced as a Lee Daniels/Represent OMV creatives winner, and she is currently scripting a one-woman show titled, One Year in Egypt. The Black Legend Heirloom Project is a first for Ms. Spencer and she hopes to continue evolving the art as a teaching practice beyond the borders of Dallas, Texas.

This exhibition was free and open for public viewing from Oct. 25 – Nov. 10, 2022 at the South Dallas Cultural Center. Click here to learn more about the Juanita J. Craft Artist Residency.

Sacred Seeds: Communicating Through Hair Systems Exhibition

karlabarthelmy — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 20:04:17 +0000

Sacred Seeds: Communicating Through Hair Systems is an exploration of communication through Black hairstyles and haircuts by artist Inyang Essien. The imagery presents intricate haircuts and hair designs as well as African threaded hairstyles paired with patterned fabrics. The patterns found in the hair not only serve as design and cultural styling, but also communicate identity and intentional messaging. Intricacies in braids and cornrows could communicate identity such as, marital status, age, and tribe, but have also been known to serve as maps or hide seeds and grains to help the enslaved.

(Photos: Nitahshia Johnson)

About the artist: Inyang Essien is a Nigerian-American photographer and visual artist from Dallas, TX. Her work is based in photography, cultural textiles, video installations, and generative art to explore identity through culture, sexuality, and personal transformation. In 2021, she was a recipient in the inaugural cohort of the Juanita J. Craft Artist Residency and was a recipient of both the Nasher Artist Grant and Cedars Union Art & Equity Scholarship.

Sacred Seeds: Communicating Through Hair Systems is free and open to the public through November 26, 2022. Click here for more information on our current exhibitions.