Homeostasis: Curated by Dexter Wimberly

18 November 2017 - 27 January 2018
Overview
Homeostasis, Curated by Dexter Wimberly

Jenkins Johnson Projects is pleased to announce Homeostasis, two simultaneous exhibitions curated by Dexter Wimberly.

 

Homeostasis includes new bodies of work by Galveston, Texas-based artist, Leonardo Benzant, presenting work that reflects a keen interest in balance and the natural interconnectivity of the seen and unseen world.

 

Born in New York City to Dominican parents, with Haitian heritage, Leonardo Benzant's practice includes painting, performance, sculpture, sound, and installation as he investigates deeply personal experiences of identity, ancestry, family, community and spirituality. Leonardo, at times, metaphorically refers to his practice as Urban Shamanism inspired by a character he created called Kamarioka: The Chameleon. Information is drawn from the uniquely shared history of code switching, double-consciousness and multiple narratives that people of African descent have inherited and are compelled to adopt as a survival strategy for daily life. Like this common experience Benzant’s work straddles two worlds, embodying the dynamics of being both sacred and secular. Homeostasis features Benzant’s mixed media sculptures made from glass beads, clothes, coffee grinds, glitter and other miscellaneous items, as well as works on paper completed during his recent residence at the Galveston Artist Residency which serve as a visual diary.

 

Benzant has been exhibited in the solo exhibition, Afrosupernatural, at Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art in Newark, New Jersey, and he has participated in group exhibitions internationally including notable shows at Third Line gallery in Dubai and 101/EXHIBIT in Los Angeles. In addition to being in several important private collections, his work has been acquired by The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts+Culture in Charlotte, North Carolina for their permanent collection. He attended Pratt Institute.

 

Carla Edwards – SELECTED WORKS

 

Carla Edwards’s current project examines how dominant culture, and artifacts shape our sense of identity and self. Through appropriation, the artist makes material interventions that alter or deconstruct an original subject to be manipulated and reconfigured in a way that has changed its meaning. Edwards is a Brooklyn-based artist. She received an MFA from RISD and a BFA from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. She is an alumna of Skowhegan and was a studio fellow in the Whitney Independent Study Program. Edwards has exhibited nationally and internationally, most notably at the Studio Museum in Harlem; Nuit Blanche, Toronto; Volta5, Basel, Switzerland; and Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens. She is the recipient of the Socrates Emerging Artist Fellowship and current studio resident at Smack Mellon. 

 

Works
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