Black HIstory Month Gallery Exhibitions – Opening Reception

 For the month of February, Daniels Spectrum is celebrating Black History Month by mounting three exhibitions that explore past, present and future narratives of black consciousness in the African Diaspora. Fifteen local contemporary artists are represented in Building Black, BLK Ken and Barbie: The Dis-Identification Performance and Black Future Month 3014.

An Opening Reception for the trio of exhibitions will be held at Daniels Spectrum on Saturday, February 1 at 6:00pm . The exhibitions are open to the public daily (Mon–Fri 8 am – 9pm, Sat–Sun 10am – 6pm) from February 1 – February 28, 2014.

Ekow Nimako: Building Black

Using over 50,000 LEGO® pieces Ghanian-Canadian sculptor Ekow Nimako uniquely explores themes of history, identity, folklore, and race with his sombre installation Building Black. The sculptures presented in Building Black investigate the notion of “blackness” with the very deliberate intention of exposing the cultural beauties and controversies that denote the black experience.

Rose-Ann Marie Bailey: BLK Ken and Barbie: The Dis-Identification Performance

In BLK Ken and Barbie: The Dis-Identification Performance, Jamaican-born photographer Rose-Ann Marie Bailey explores the conceptual identity development in pop culture and in the mainstream media of the representation of beauty and body image of Black men and women. Through the documentation of the daily environments of “Black life”, Black fashion dolls are superimposed into their staged reality.

Artist Talk & Discussion: Saturday, February 15, 2pm – 5pm, Artscape Lounge at Daniels Spectrum

Group Exhibition: Black Future Month 3014

Black Future Month 3014 is Toronto’s first ever Afrofuturism group art exhibition featuring works by Danilo M. McCallum, SoTeeOh, Komi Olaf, Chanel Kennebrew (JunkPrints), Ola Ojo, Jordan Clarke, Javid JAH, Chris Ak, Shadow, XYZ/Black Iron Giants (Giant Grafix), Quentin Vercetty, Samson Brown and Hillina Seife. Through painting, photography, digital/graphic arts, architecture, poetry, audio and video works, these artists explore imaginative visions of our far-off distant future as Black people.

Artist Talk & Discussion: Sunday, February 9, 2pm – 5pm, Artscape Lounge at Daniels Spectrum

The Black History Month exhibitions at Daniels Spectrum are curated by Elle Alconcel