Hyde Park Art Center presents Candace Hunter’s largest solo exhibition The Alien-Nations and Sovereign States of Octavia E. Butler November 11, 2023—March 3, 2024

Hyde Park Art Center presents Candace Hunter’s largest solo exhibition
The Alien-Nations and Sovereign States of Octavia E. Butler
November 11, 2023—March 3, 2024

An immersive exhibition with imaginative visuals and sound illustrates the author’s fictional worlds, examining 21st century human crises and elevating Black bodies and voices

CHICAGO — Hyde Park Art Center, the renowned non-profit hub for contemporary art located on Chicago’s vibrant South Side, announces Chicago-based artist Candace Hunter’s largest solo exhibition to date. Exploring ideas from Parable of the Sower and Xenogenesis Trilogy (Lilith’s Brood) by speculative fiction author Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006), this will be Hunter’s third and most immersive exhibition inspired by Butler’s work. Hunter will present a series of collage-based works, installations, video, and sound works that illustrate the meticulously sculpted worlds Butler imagined in her novels, examining their significance for Black bodies and future societies. Candace Hunter: The Alien-Nations and Sovereign States of Octavia E. Butler will be on view from November 11, 2023 to March 3, 2024.

In The Alien-Nations and Sovereign States of Octavia E. Butler, Hunter incorporates work with plants, remnants of a live science experiment, a reading nook, and imagined portals to other worlds to create what she describes as an “alien lush space.” The exhibition examines the concepts of nationhood, asking questions about who is other, and in what situations do we see people as other to ourselves? How do we become universal?

Comparing the Parable of the Sower to the Trump era and using Xenogenesis Trilogy (Lilith’s Brood) to explore what “alien” worlds might exist beyond America and its race relations today, Hunter’s exhibition creates a speculative space where multiple generations come together to envision a better future.

In response to the Black Lives Matter movement, when the phrase “I can’t breathe” became prevalent in the fight for justice for Black lives, Hunter believes that “the future is breath,” a sign of life and growth. The phrase will radiate in neon in the exhibition, reminding visitors of Afro-Futurism’s dependence on the preservation and elevation of Black bodies and voices in the present.

Rooted in her identification as a Black woman and spanning over two decades, Hunter’s work has explored the crises she predicts will impact twenty-first century society at large, from capitalism and climate change to food justice, humanism, and the politics of water. In Butler’s novels, the Black female heroes navigate an earth devastated by climate catastrophe and war to lead survivors to a new world - either on this planet or the next planet.

Candace Hunter says, “I’ve been working with Butler’s content for over a decade. I was drawn to Butler’s work because she was a Black girl in literature creating worlds that were fantastical. It was a world you could find for yourself or create. You could just think of something, and it is. That was my first understanding of conceptual art: I can just make it, and it is.”

In tandem with the exhibition, Hyde Park Art Center will present a robust series of free public programs, including reading circles, writing workshops, and concerts that explore Hunter’s interpretation of Butler’s world. The exhibition is co-curated by the Art Center’s Public Programs Manager Ciera Alyse McKissick and Director of Exhibition & Residency Programs Allison Peters Quinn.

Candace Hunter (chlee), a Chicago-based artist, creates collage, paintings, installations, and performance art. Plainly, she tells stories. Using appropriated materials from magazines, vintage maps, cloth, and various reused materials, she offers this new landscape of materials back to the viewer with a glimpse of history and admiration of the beautiful.

Hyde Park Art Center, at 5020 South Cornell Avenue on Chicago’s vibrant South Side, is a hub for contemporary arts in Chicago, serving as a gathering, production, and exhibition space for artists and the broader community to cultivate ideas, impact social change, and connect with new networks. Since its inception in 1939, Hyde Park Art Center has grown from a small collective of artists to establishing a strong legacy of risk-taking and experimentation, emerging as a unique Chicago arts institution with social impact. Today, the Art Center offers a diverse suite of programs for artists and art lovers of all backgrounds, ages, and stages in their careers including: contemporary art exhibitions in six galleries; open-access community-based school with 1,500 annual enrollments; weekly arts education to 1,000 elementary school students in public schools; weekly and summer teen programs for 100 teen artists; professional-advancement programs for artists; a local and international artist residency; and public programs that connects residents with Chicago art and artists. The Art Center functions as an amplifier for creative voices of today and tomorrow, providing the space to cultivate new work and connections. For more information, please visit www.hydeparkart.org.

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