EXHIBITION STATEMENT

Grey matter affects how humans perceive the information and stimuli encountered at any given moment. It is the brain tissue that controls the human body’s muscle control and sensory perception such as: seeing, hearing, speech, memory, emotions, decision-making, and self-control.

This exhibition is an examination of how Blackness has been perceived and responded to by America’s dominant society throughout history including the educational system, law enforcement, and public policies. The artworks displayed in Grey Matter explore how these responses have affected those that identify, or are classified as, Black. 

The work of Ernest Shaw emphasizes the treatment of Black youth within the criminal justice and public school systems. This questions how Black youth view themselves while within systems that have historically criminalized and devalued them – evident through the school-to-prison pipeline. 

Grey Matter also features works from artist McKinley Wallace III’s series “Respond” and “Under Blue”. Both series contain socio-political commentary related to the policing of Black bodies and a lack of protection from law enforcement and the American government. Acknowledging this history and its ramifications, provides us with insight into current political structures, ideologies, and trauma effecting Black Americans. 

The installations, For Whose Sins and For Me, For Them created by Omalara Williams McCallister expose a history of violence against Black bodies as well as an under appreciation for the labor Blacks have provided in order to build this country. At the same time, these installations also pay homage to the individuals that have fallen victim to these brutalities. 

The mixed media work of Charles Mason III explores Blackness and all its complexities - questioning what it means to be Black in any given space. The abstract nature of his work examines thoughts and emotions of unease that may be felt by Blacks in these spaces. Many of these inclinations and feelings go unexplained and take a certain level of awareness in order to be fully understood. 

By appreciating the past, present, and future, we can begin to understand the structures that have affected Black Americans since the inception of this nation. By doing so, it is a hope that we can create a universal form empathy, more platforms for Black American voices to be heard, and ultimately create new mechanisms that lead to systems of justice. Perception is reality, so in order to move forward amicably we must change both.