1
2
3
4
diasporic Futurism CURATED BY GLTTR COLLECTIVE: LEAH KING AND JUAN CARLOS RODRÍGUEZ RIVERA Diasporic Futurism took form as a two-part series that launched in July 2020, with a virtual exhibit called Diasporic Futurism Part I: The Present Future, and continued into February 2021, with Diasporic Futurism Part II: The Future Futures. This later iteration of the exhibition featured an immersive and multi-dimensional experience in the gallery with video installations, 3-D art work, painting, sculpture, and comic and graphic drawings.
EXHIBITION DATES July 13–August 8, 2020 | Diasporic Futurism Part I: The Present Future February 1–27, 2021 | Diasporic Futurism Part II: The Future Futures
5
6
Exhibiting Artists AFATASI THE ARTIST
DANI LOPEZ**
JOSEPH ABBATI
ALICIA MCDANIEL*
PANSEE ATTA
RICHARD-JONATHAN NELSON
MADAME BESSIE SNOW
ZE ROYALE
SOFIA CORDOVA
MOHSIN SHAFI
NIMISHA DOONGARWAL
MIMI TEMPESTT
ESEOSA EDEBIRI
TANNA TUCKER
CARLA GOLDER
AMY VÁZQUEZ
HALDANE CHARLES KING
ALLISON YASUKAWA
*Root Division Studio Artist **Root Division Alum
7
Black Space (costume detail), 2020 Single channel HD video & mixed media costumes 3:13 minutes
8
table of Contents 13
NOTES FROM THE CURATORS
14
AFATASI THE ARTIST
16
JOSEPH ABBATI
18
PANSEE ATTA
20
MADAME BESSIE SNOW
22
SOFIA CORDOVA
24
NIMISHA DOONGARWAL
26
ESEOSA EDEBIRI
28
CARLA GOLDER
30
HALDANE CHARLES KING
32
DANI LOPEZ
34
ALICIA MCDANIEL
36
RICHARD-JONATHAN NELSON
38
ZE ROYALE
40
MOHSIN SHAFI
42
MIMI TEMPESTT
44
TANNA TUCKER
46
AMY VÁZQUEZ
48
ALLISON YASUKAWA
9
Installation detail of Black Space by Afatasi the Artist
10
Installation detail featuring Such a Fucking Cliché by dani lopez (left) and La Vedette de America (Tu Boquita With Contrapposto) by Sofia Cordova (right)
11
Alicia McDaniel Rapprochement, 2020 Glass seed beads, styrofoam, and gluing adhesive 9 x 5.5 in.
12
Diasporic Futurism Part I: The Present Future Part II: The Future Futures CURATED BY GLTTR COLLECTIVE: LEAH KING AND JUAN CARLOS RODRÍGUEZ RIVERA Diasporic Futurism was born out of the desire to showcase and celebrate emerging and established Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) artists whose work reckons with the themes of imagination, identity, place, and joy. Diasporas honor the history of forced migration as a result of political, cultural, religious, and physical subjugation that is the story of many BIPOC peoples currently living on occupied land. Futurism envisions imaginative, alternate realities full of beauty, possibility, and liberation, systematically denied to those populations due to the white supremacist limits of western society. When we began conceptualizing this show in mid-2019, our minds were interested in revisioning Black and Brown representation in art and cultural institutions by centering voices of our community members and celebrating the beauty and richness of artists we love. Though the world has completely turned inside out since then, we know that this work is just as urgent as ever. True to our curatorial perspective—which is embedded with both a love of Afrofuturism and magical realism—the exhibition features video-based and live activations, immersive and multidimensional gallery experiences, video installations, 3-D art work, surrealist painting, sculpture, and comic and graphic drawings. Every piece reflects an aesthetic that is firmly rooted in the desire to find joy in the dynamic chaos of systemic upheaval, while unapologetically centering the voices, lives, and stories of BIPOC people.
13
afatasi The Artist
14
Black Space, 2020 Single channel HD video & mixed media costumes 3:13 minutes
15
joseph abbati
16
From left to right: Marswalker, 2019 Acrylic on canvas 30 x 1.5 in. round Multiverse, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 34 x 30 x 1.5 in.
17
pansee atta
18
From left to right: Bonaparte Entering Cairo, 2016 Digital animation Variable dimensions, 1:20 minutes We Are Not Asking for the Moon, 2018 GIF animation & installation Variable dimensions
19
Madame Bessie Snow
Madame Bessie Snow headshot, 2020 Live Performer on opening night, Feb 13, 2021
20
21
Sofia Cordova
La Vedette de America (Tu Boquita With Contrapposto, 2012 Single channel HD video 7:42 minutes
22
23
Nimisha Doongarwal
24
From left to right: Portrait of Colonization, 2020 Mixed media 12 x 12 x 2 in. Immigrant Identity, 2019 Mixed media 16 x 20 x 2 in. Who Am I?, 2019 Mixed media 12 x 12 x 2 in.
25
Eseosa Edebiri
26
From left to right: Akugbe; Iyobo. Reaching, 2020 Handmade latch hook rug 36 x 54 in. Kia Kukpe / Coming Together, 2021 Handmade latch hook rug 60 x 48 in. Akugbe; No Re Eha “Unity of Trinity” — Encompassing Togetherness, 2019 Handmade latch hook rug 48 x 66 in.
27
Carla Golder
28
From left to right: Rooted, 2019 Color pencil drawing 18 x 15 in. On Bended Knee, 2020 Color pencil drawing 18 x 16 in.
29
Haldane Charles King
From left to right: Dorothy the Park, 2015 short story negative space, 2020 Audio recording (produced by Leah King) 2:37 minutes
30
31
dani lopez
Such a Fucking Cliché, 2018 Hand embroidered and machine sewn stretch velvet, sequin fabric, and polyfill 38 x 36 x 6 in.
32
33
Alicia McDaniel
Rapprochement, 2020 Glass seed beads, styrofoam, and gluing adhesive 9 x 5.5 in.
34
35
Richard-Jonathan Nelson
From left to right: Misgivings Held In An Indigo Midnight, 2019 Digital pigment print on paper 11 x 14 in. Unfurling Petals of Anamnesis Canonization, 2012 Hand dyed & hand woven cotton, jacquard collaged piecework 60 x 67 in.
36
37
Ze Royale
::Daymares::, 2018 Single channel HD video 7:37 minutes Photos and video: Silvia Maggi Music: The Neighbourhood Character
38
39
Mohsin Shafi
40
Tales of the Cities, 2019–2020 Single channel HD video 17:31 minutes
41
Mimi Tempestt *niggafishing
created → used → recycled → erased → forgotten
42
*(verb) the act of white women darkening their skin to pass as black women for internet fame and attention. Previously known as blackface.
reparations
they can’t wait to pay
From left to right:
for 12 year old black pussy
Meme Me, 2020 Photo canvas print 30 x 40 in. Niggafishing, 2020 Photo canvas print 30 x 40 in.
in tubmans
Tubman, 2020 Photo canvas prints 30 x 40 in.
43
Tanna Tucker
From left to right: Handle with Care, 2020 Digital and pencil 6 x 12 in. Fight or Flight?, 2020 Digital and ink 10 x 10 in.
44
Amy VÁzquez
46
los dados te lo dirán, 2019 Gouache on canvas, ceramic dice, and cloth 20 x 16 in. & 10 x 8 in.
47
Allison Yasukawa
White, 2017 Dancing flower playing audio from an online pronunciation tutorial 8 x 3 x 3 in.
48
49
About STAFF Michelle Mansour
Executive Director
Renée Rhodes
Art Programs Manager
Michael Gabrielle
Education Programs Manager
Phi Tran
Marketing & Design Manager
Carissa Diaz
Installations & Site Manager
ChiChai Mateo
Development & Programs Assistant
Rachel Welles
Operations Assistant
CATALOGUE PRODUCTION Phi Tran & Michael Nguyen
Graphic Design
Graham Holoch
Exhibition Documentation
1131 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 415.863.7668 | rootdivision.org
50
MISSION Root Division is a visual arts non-profit in San Francisco that connects creativity and community through a dynamic ecosystem of arts education, exhibitions, and studios. Root Division’s mission is to empower artists, foster community service, inspire youth, and enrich the Bay Area through engagement in the visual arts. The organization is a launching pad for artists, a stepping-stone for educators and students, and a bridge for the general public to become involved in the arts. SUPPORTERS Root Division is supported in part by a plethora of individual donors and by grants from National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, Grants for the Arts, San Francisco Arts Commission: Community Investments, Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Kimball Foundation, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, Fleishhacker Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Violet World Foundation, and Bill Graham Memorial Fund.
51
donate Root Division is a visual arts non-profit, and we are grateful for your charitable support of our programming: rootdivision.org/giving
shop art Brighten up your home and support Root Division artists while you’re at it! https://root-division.square.site
buy in print Prefer to have a printed copy of this publication? Order from our store to have it shipped to you. https://root-division.square.site
54
55
1131 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 9410
56
415.863.7668 | rootdivision.org
