Diasporic Futurism

1

2

3

4

diasporic Futurism CURATED BY GLTTR COLLECTIVE: LEAH KING AND JUAN CARLOS RODRÍGUEZ RIVERA Diasporic Futurism took form as a two-part series that launched in July 2020, with a virtual exhibit called Diasporic Futurism Part I: The Present Future, and continued into February 2021, with Diasporic Futurism Part II: The Future Futures. This later iteration of the exhibition featured an immersive and multi-dimensional experience in the gallery with video installations, 3-D art work, painting, sculpture, and comic and graphic drawings.

EXHIBITION DATES July 13–August 8, 2020 | Diasporic Futurism Part I: The Present Future February 1–27, 2021 | Diasporic Futurism Part II: The Future Futures

5

6

Exhibiting Artists AFATASI THE ARTIST

DANI LOPEZ**

JOSEPH ABBATI

ALICIA MCDANIEL*

PANSEE ATTA

RICHARD-JONATHAN NELSON

MADAME BESSIE SNOW

ZE ROYALE

SOFIA CORDOVA

MOHSIN SHAFI

NIMISHA DOONGARWAL

MIMI TEMPESTT

ESEOSA EDEBIRI

TANNA TUCKER

CARLA GOLDER

AMY VÁZQUEZ

HALDANE CHARLES KING

ALLISON YASUKAWA

*Root Division Studio Artist **Root Division Alum

7

Black Space (costume detail), 2020 Single channel HD video & mixed media costumes 3:13 minutes

8

table of Contents 13

NOTES FROM THE CURATORS

14

AFATASI THE ARTIST

16

JOSEPH ABBATI

18

PANSEE ATTA

20

MADAME BESSIE SNOW

22

SOFIA CORDOVA

24

NIMISHA DOONGARWAL

26

ESEOSA EDEBIRI

28

CARLA GOLDER

30

HALDANE CHARLES KING

32

DANI LOPEZ

34

ALICIA MCDANIEL

36

RICHARD-JONATHAN NELSON

38

ZE ROYALE

40

MOHSIN SHAFI

42

MIMI TEMPESTT

44

TANNA TUCKER

46

AMY VÁZQUEZ

48

ALLISON YASUKAWA

9

Installation detail of Black Space by Afatasi the Artist

10

Installation detail featuring Such a Fucking Cliché by dani lopez (left) and La Vedette de America (Tu Boquita With Contrapposto) by Sofia Cordova (right)

11

Alicia McDaniel Rapprochement, 2020 Glass seed beads, styrofoam, and gluing adhesive 9 x 5.5 in.

12

Diasporic Futurism Part I: The Present Future Part II: The Future Futures CURATED BY GLTTR COLLECTIVE: LEAH KING AND JUAN CARLOS RODRÍGUEZ RIVERA Diasporic Futurism was born out of the desire to showcase and celebrate emerging and established Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) artists whose work reckons with the themes of imagination, identity, place, and joy. Diasporas honor the history of forced migration as a result of political, cultural, religious, and physical subjugation that is the story of many BIPOC peoples currently living on occupied land.

Futurism envisions imaginative, alternate realities full of beauty, possibility, and liberation, systematically denied to those populations due to the white supremacist limits of western society.

When we began conceptualizing this show in mid-2019, our minds were interested in revisioning Black and Brown representation in art and cultural institutions by centering voices of our community members and celebrating the beauty and richness of artists we love. Though the world has completely turned inside out since then, we know that this work is just as urgent as ever.

True to our curatorial perspective—which is embedded with both a love of Afrofuturism and magical realism—the exhibition features video-based and live activations, immersive and multidimensional gallery experiences, video installations, 3-D art work, surrealist painting, sculpture, and comic and graphic drawings. Every piece reflects an aesthetic that is firmly rooted in the desire to find joy in the dynamic chaos of systemic upheaval, while unapologetically centering the voices, lives, and stories of BIPOC people.

13

afatasi The Artist

14

Black Space, 2020 Single channel HD video & mixed media costumes 3:13 minutes

15

joseph abbati

16

From left to right: Marswalker, 2019 Acrylic on canvas 30 x 1.5 in. round Multiverse, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 34 x 30 x 1.5 in.

17

pansee atta

18

From left to right: Bonaparte Entering Cairo, 2016 Digital animation Variable dimensions, 1:20 minutes We Are Not Asking for the Moon, 2018 GIF animation & installation Variable dimensions

19

Madame Bessie Snow

Madame Bessie Snow headshot, 2020 Live Performer on opening night, Feb 13, 2021

20

21

Sofia Cordova

La Vedette de America (Tu Boquita With Contrapposto, 2012 Single channel HD video 7:42 minutes

22

23

Nimisha Doongarwal

24

From left to right: Portrait of Colonization, 2020 Mixed media 12 x 12 x 2 in.

Immigrant Identity, 2019 Mixed media 16 x 20 x 2 in.

Who Am I?, 2019 Mixed media 12 x 12 x 2 in.

25

Eseosa Edebiri

26

From left to right: Akugbe; Iyobo. Reaching, 2020 Handmade latch hook rug 36 x 54 in.

Kia Kukpe / Coming Together, 2021 Handmade latch hook rug 60 x 48 in.

Akugbe; No Re Eha “Unity of Trinity” — Encompassing Togetherness, 2019 Handmade latch hook rug 48 x 66 in.

27

Carla Golder

28

From left to right: Rooted, 2019 Color pencil drawing 18 x 15 in.

On Bended Knee, 2020 Color pencil drawing 18 x 16 in.

29

Haldane Charles King

From left to right: Dorothy the Park, 2015 short story negative space, 2020 Audio recording (produced by Leah King) 2:37 minutes

30

31

dani lopez

Such a Fucking Cliché, 2018 Hand embroidered and machine sewn stretch velvet, sequin fabric, and polyfill 38 x 36 x 6 in.

32

33

Alicia McDaniel

Rapprochement, 2020 Glass seed beads, styrofoam, and gluing adhesive 9 x 5.5 in.

34

35

Richard-Jonathan Nelson

From left to right: Misgivings Held In An Indigo Midnight, 2019 Digital pigment print on paper 11 x 14 in.

Unfurling Petals of Anamnesis Canonization, 2012 Hand dyed & hand woven cotton, jacquard collaged piecework 60 x 67 in.

36

37

Ze Royale

::Daymares::, 2018 Single channel HD video 7:37 minutes Photos and video: Silvia Maggi Music: The Neighbourhood Character

38

39

Mohsin Shafi

40

Tales of the Cities, 2019–2020 Single channel HD video 17:31 minutes

41

Mimi Tempestt *niggafishing

created → used → recycled → erased → forgotten

42

*(verb) the act of white women darkening their skin to pass as black women for internet fame and attention. Previously known as blackface.

reparations

they​ can’t wait to pay

From left to right:

for 12 year old black pussy

Meme Me, 2020 Photo canvas print 30 x 40 in.

Niggafishing, 2020 Photo canvas print 30 x 40 in.

in tubmans

Tubman, 2020 Photo canvas prints 30 x 40 in.

43

Tanna Tucker

From left to right: Handle with Care, 2020 Digital and pencil 6 x 12 in.

Fight or Flight?, 2020 Digital and ink 10 x 10 in.

44

Amy VÁzquez

46

los dados te lo dirán, 2019 Gouache on canvas, ceramic dice, and cloth 20 x 16 in. & 10 x 8 in.

47

Allison Yasukawa

White, 2017 Dancing flower playing audio from an online pronunciation tutorial 8 x 3 x 3 in.

48

49

About STAFF Michelle Mansour

Executive Director

Renée Rhodes

Art Programs Manager

Michael Gabrielle

Education Programs Manager

Phi Tran

Marketing & Design Manager

Carissa Diaz

Installations & Site Manager

ChiChai Mateo

Development & Programs Assistant

Rachel Welles

Operations Assistant

CATALOGUE PRODUCTION Phi Tran & Michael Nguyen

Graphic Design

Graham Holoch

Exhibition Documentation

1131 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 415.863.7668 | rootdivision.org

50

MISSION Root Division is a visual arts non-profit in San Francisco that connects creativity and community through a dynamic ecosystem of arts education, exhibitions, and studios. Root Division’s mission is to empower artists, foster community service, inspire youth, and enrich the Bay Area through engagement in the visual arts. The organization is a launching pad for artists, a stepping-stone for educators and students, and a bridge for the general public to become involved in the arts.

SUPPORTERS Root Division is supported in part by a plethora of individual donors and by grants from National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, Grants for the Arts, San Francisco Arts Commission: Community Investments, Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Kimball Foundation, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, Fleishhacker Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Violet World Foundation, and Bill Graham Memorial Fund.

51

donate Root Division is a visual arts non-profit, and we are grateful for your charitable support of our programming: rootdivision.org/giving

shop art Brighten up your home and support Root Division artists while you’re at it! https://root-division.square.site

buy in print Prefer to have a printed copy of this publication?

Order from our store to have it shipped to you. https://root-division.square.site

54

55

1131 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 9410

56

415.863.7668 | rootdivision.org