Thu 6/1 @ 5:30-8PM
The next show at the Yards Project Gallery at Worthington Yards is a change of pace. Instead of a themed group show, it focuses on the work of two artists: writer Ali Black and photographer Donald Black Jr.
In Loving Being Black, the duo explores the Black funeral experience and the effects of violence and racism. We’re told that “trauma sits too comfortable in both artists’ live. Yet love and adoration still show up. In ‘The Custom Casket,’ Ali watches Donald wrap a casket, admiring his skill, creating a scene of wonder and intimacy. Love Being Black invites viewers to consider what it means to join forces as partners and creators to contest against a world that tries so desperately to destroy black love.”
Local art aficionados may recall seeing Donald Black Jr’s brilliant black & white series of children called A Day No One Will Remember, establishing the normalcy of their childhood experience in the middle of a society that aims to hold them down and back. It’s been on view at Youngstown’s McDonough Museum, the Shaker Community Center, and Deep Roots Experience. Poet/educator Ali Black covers themes of Black life in Cleveland neighborhoods in her work. She is poetry editor of the Gordon Square Review and author of a book of poetry titled If It Heals at All.
The show opens with a free public reception on Thursday June 1 @ 5:30-8PM.