December 18, 2020 - January 30, 2021
5:00 - 9:00 PM, Thursday - Saturday 
Southern Exposure, 3030 20th Street
Viewable from the sidewalk on Alabama Street

Southern Exposure presents new work by Yétundé Olágbajú in our entrance gallery. I witness you (for laure), is a video and multi-media installation from Olágbajú’s ongoing research project an untitled rendering, after... honoring Black femme individuals who modeled for paintings that are well-known in the white European art historical canon.

In their research into the lives of so many individuals who have been ignored by art history, and in coming to terms with the ways in which we have all been indoctrinated into the hegemony of whiteness through recognized European painting traditions, Olágbajú sought to find ways to uplift these unknown figures rather than othering them. This iteration of the project invites passersby to take the time to quietly honor and celebrate the beauty of these Black women who are often represented in servant roles and recognized by art historians as foils for normative beauty standards and symbols of the importance of capitalist patriarchal art collectors, rather than for their own beauty, presence, and lived experience. 

This entrance-gallery project is the first of three solo installations by local artists emerging from the challenges of the past year to focus on relationships of care and honoring the beauty in our encounters with strangers. 

Please note: The SoEx gallery and offices will be closed from December 24-January 3 for the winter holidays. I witness you (for laure) will be viewable again starting on Thursday, January 7, 2021 at 5:00PM.