Catch 22
At the start of his funky groover "Mind Power," the late Godfather of Soul, James Brown, said “It is what it is.” And we here at Code Z believe that The Postmillennial Black Madonna: Paradise & Inferno, a two-venue multimedia exhibition by 23 Artists is it--or at least the beginning of it. Artists Renee Cox, Wangechi Mutu, and Rush Arts Gallery founder and president, Danny Simmons have joined up with Brian D. Tate to bring us a meditation on the world that we live in. All of this is presented through the lens of the orisha, the Black Madonna.
On display until May 2007 and split between the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) (February 22-May 13, 2007), and the Skylight Gallery (March 15-May 5, 2007) Postmillennial is an all out assault on comfort. This pursuit of life’s inevitability includes new and recent works by such artists as Xaviera Simmons, Ayana V. Jackson and ATL’s coveted love child Sanford Biggers.
“… The Black Madonna may be considered the artist's patron saint. She is a beacon to the defenseless and the defiant, the cast-aside and the changed,” according to Tate. And it is the changes that we have witnessed since the dawning of our new millennium that these 23 artists intend to lay bare.
In the double-o-seven, Postmillennial reminds us that more, not less, is more. Between the two venues, where MoCADA represents paradise and the Skylight Gallery is deemed Inferno, each artist will contribute two works to this mixed/multi media exhibition. We are presented with double the art from dangerous minds whose thoughts are of the mortal coil and beyond.
If the previous six years are any indication, our postmillennial tensions will need this release. So, if you’re going to be in the BK, check out the show, set yourself free and give us your testimony.
2 March 2007