Art exhibit highlights Black joy and the path to it

Adeshola Makinde is a local artist whose work is being showcased at Stony Island Arts Bank in an exhibition titled, “Is where it’s at!” PHOTO PROVIDED BY RISE.
Adeshola Makinde is a local artist whose work is being showcased at Stony Island Arts Bank in an exhibition titled, “Is where it’s at!” PHOTO PROVIDED BY RISE.

 Art exhibit highlights Black joy and the path to it

By Tia Carol Jones

Artist Adeshola Makinde was watching “Summer of Soul,” a documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, and he heard Nina Simone singing, “Young, Gifted and Black.”

The intentionality behind the way Simone was singing the song and her career, using her voice to speak to issues that affected her and her people, inspired Makinde. He wanted to create visuals that accompanied that song.

The art exhibit “Is Where It’s At,” highlights Black joy, while also exploring all the nuanced things Black people experience on their journey to that joy. The exhibit is on display at the Rebuild Foundation’s Stony Island Arts Bank, located at 6760 S. Stony Island Ave.

The exhibit is part of a partnership between the Rebuild and Anthony Gallery, located in the Fulton River District and run by Isimeme “Easy” Otabor. The yearlong partnership will be a collaboration between the two entities to highlight established and emerging African and Black American contemporary artists.

“Since learning about the Stony Island Arts Bank, it’s been a dream of mine to elevate the work of talented Black artists throughout Chicago and across the country,” said Easy Otabor, Founder of the Anthony Gallery.

 “Partnering with Theaster Gates and developing these shows at the Arts Bank allows curators, collectors and gallerists like myself to demonstrate the rich cultural talent that exists within our communities and has long been overlooked. We’re excited to share these collections and bodies of work with the South Side.”

Makinde wanted the 40 pieces in the exhibit to illicit pride and joy. With the larger scale works, when he found the images in the Ebony magazine, they spoke to the moment and the idea of joy.

“I wanted Black people to feel a sense of pride seeing the work. Because I feel like in this moment, there’s a lot of negative imagery of Black people, whether it’s the news, media or cinema.  I wanted to show what I wanted to see,” he said.

Makinde believes the work is important for this moment in time because it is his way of speaking on things he is reading, learning, seeing on the news, and how he is dissecting those things. I wanted to make the work specifically for people of this time. He believes history does repeat, which is another layer to his work, so he is sourcing materials from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He believes the subject matter from those time periods is incredibly relevant for today.

It is Makinde’s aim to speak to the moment as intentionally as possible. The bedrock of his art practice is sharing the information he learned on his journey of Black Consciousness. He is trying to educate as much as possible, in spaces like Stony Island Arts Bank and the Anthony Gallery so that kind of education can take place.

“Far down the line that’s what I want my work to be remembered as. People discovered people or stories or different things through the works.  I want the work to question. I want people to be challenged to ask questions and have tough conversations,” he said.

Not all the works are joyful. Makinde wanted to give a little bit of juxtaposition. He doesn’t always think things are always so joyful and the exhibit reflects that.

The pieces in the exhibit were created within the last three years. Some of the collages are from 2019, when Makinde was admiring the Stony Island Arts Bank from afar and living in Michigan. The larger scale works are from 2021, and some of the collages are from 2020. The Louis Armstrong piece was recently completed.

The collages are meant to be read as poems. One of Makinde’s favorite pieces are the Cicely Tyson piece titled, “I Watched Roots in the 7th Grade,” and the Black Power piece.

The response from people who have already seen the exhibit is that it has an energy to it. Makinde hopes people will feel the joy, as well as a sense of urgency to grapple with what’s being said in the work.

“This show is really a good example of what I’m trying to say and put forth in the art world and the world in general,” he said.

The exhibit will be on display through Feb. 27. For more information, visit www.rebuild-foundation.org.

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

STARR Community Services International, Inc.