"Mangrove Mud Womp"
at Second Avenue Studio FAU, Fort Lauderdale, FL
“Total Disappearance, v.1 (video still)”
archival pigment print on Canson paper
[a narrated video]
Jan., 2012 - Onajide Shabaka is thrilled to announce the opening of “Mangrove Mud Womp,” a solo exhibition of work by the multimedia artist, featuring prints, drawings, videos, and sculpture at Second Avenue Studio, on the downtown Fort Lauderdale campus of Florida Atlantic University. The show centers on Shabaka’s interactions in Anne Kolb Nature Center’s mangrove estuary. Conceptually derived from exploring materials archived by him from his elderly relatives who relocated to Florida in the 1920s from South Carolina, Shabaka opens a world within a world.
“‘Mangrove Mud Womp’ take us on a mysterious, and miraculous trip through a Florida unseen and only known by a rare few. Onajide Shabaka serves as the visual guide and narrator through this world of the strange and the unique, a half real world as we travel into the deep, deep mud of the ancient estuary, the guardian mythic spirit of the mangroves.”
Shabakas's art practice is varied and multi-media, using drawing, photography, video, and performative actions with a grounding in ethnobotany, anthropology, geology and, African Atlantic cultural aesthetics. It is an art practice focused on facilitating thought, introspection and discussion.
In addition to the exhibition, Florida Atlantic Univ. will host a panel discussion, “Urban Planning & Design and the use of Open Space(s),” moderated by Shabaka and including faculty from the School of Urban & Regional Planning, local architect, Margi Nothard, and others.
Florida Atlantic University
Second Avenue Studio
220 SE Second Avenue
Fort Lauderdale 33301
Exhibition Dates: January 30 to March 2, 2012
Open on “Café' Wednesdays” gallery nights:
Feb. 1 - Open
Feb. 8 - Artist’s Reception, 4-7 pm.
Feb. 15 - Open
Feb. 22 - PANEL DISCUSSION: “Urban Planning & Design and the use of Open Space(s),” 3:30 to 5:30 pm
Feb. 29 (closing reception)
Feb. 4 - Third Avenue Annual Artwalk: Saturday, February 4, 2012 from 6-10 pm
INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES & ADDITIONAL PRESS IMAGES: Please contact Onajide Shabaka at (onajide@gmail.com) or by phone, 954-270-7404.
LINKS:
http://www.art3st.com/tag/mangrove-mud-womp/
http://www.facebook.com/onajide.shabaka
http://www.facebook.com/pages/FAU-Second-Avenue-Studio/270485509651549
http://www.fau.edu/broward/fortlauderdale/Second_Avenue_Studio.php
Funding for this project is provided in part by the
Broward County Board of County Commissioners
as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council.
This project is supported in part by by an award
from the National Endowment of the Arts.
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Flag (silk)
silk on silk fabric
44.5 x 23 in.
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"Postcard 1939 (video still)”
archival pigment print on Canson paper
[a narrated video]
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Conceptual, Time-based Photography
Shabaka, as photographic documenter and artist, often working in process with one, or possibly more persons, takes photographs not always to show what is in front of the camera, but what is behind the camera in the form of a conceptual approach. Even though trained as a photographer, Shabaka’s images document not a travelogue, but a quest. These quests often take the form of “walks” while gathering ephemeral bits of the landscape to photograph, be it botanical or geological. Hence, the still image documents a time-based process of movement and gathering.
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"Postcard 1939" and its narration is based on a postcard sent between family members in 1939. Although some of the narration has been altered, the essence of the communication remains unchanged and reflects part of Shabaka's family history in Florida.
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