Light Work Presents: Everything Is Connected - Season 1

On this episode I'm joined by Luke Willis Thompson as we discuss his newly commissioned work presented for 16 edition of the Sharjah Biennial, elucidated through the curatorial theme, to carry. Asking questions such as what does it mean to carry a home, a history, a language, a legacy, and a lineage.Luke Willis Thompson is a New Zealand artist of Fijian and European descent, currently working primarily in film and across performance, installation and sculpture to tackle traumatic histories of class, racial and social inequality, institutional violence, colonialism and forced migration. In this episode, Luke discusses his newly commissioned film, Whakamoemoeā. Set in 2040, it's a fictional state broadcast, where a woman delivering a monologue announces the successful transition of New Zealand from a liberal democracy to an Indigenous governance model. Thompson reflects on the collaborative nature of the project, and the importance of cultural practices, such as following Tikanga, during the production process, which involved a large team working together harmoniously. He also affirms the collective effort behind the project, which serves as a model for the political future he envisions, emphasizing trust and collaboration throughout the creative process.-------------------------------------------------------------------- WHERE YOU CAN FOLLOW ME AND SUBSCRIBE Website - Sign up for my newsletter https://lightworkco.com/ Instagram - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sadeolo/https://www.instagram.com/lightworkcompany/ YouTube - Subscribe to my YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/@lightworkco

On this episode I'm joined by Rita Mawuena Benissan as we discuss her newly commissioned works presented for 16 edition of the Sharjah Biennial, elucidated through the curatorial theme, to carry. Asking questions such as what does it mean to carry a home, a history, a language, a legacy, and a lineage.Born in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire in 1995 to Ghanaian parents, Rita's journey led her to the United States as a baby, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Apparel and Textile Design from Michigan State University in 2017, followed by a Master of Fine Arts in photography and an African Studies Program Certificate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2021.Rita is a Ghanaian-American interdisciplinary artist, on a mission to reimagine the royal umbrella, transforming it from a mere protective object into a potent symbol of Ghanaian identity. With a profound passion for art and cultural history, Rita collaborates with traditional artisans to breathe life into archival photos, immortalizing individual figures and communal scenes while embodying the beauty and power of her people.In this episode, Rita discusses her newly commissioned work 'You Must Cross and Seek.' The installation features photography, installations, and well-known umbrella works. Rita explains how the title and the works reflect themes of ancestral calls, cultural legacy, and the fishing community in the Volta region where her family is from. She emphasizes the need for cultural preservation, especially through her foundation, Si Hene, which focuses on documenting and archiving Ghanaian chieftaincy and traditional culture. Rita also discusses the challenges of accessing cultural archives and the importance of creating spaces for contemporary African art, urging a collaborative approach between communities and institutions. -------------------------------------------------------------------- WHERE YOU CAN FOLLOW ME AND SUBSCRIBE Website - Sign up for my newsletter https://lightworkco.com/ Instagram - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sadeolo/https://www.instagram.com/lightworkcompany/ YouTube - Subscribe to my YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/@lightworkco

On this episode I'm joined by Kaloki Nyamai as we discuss his newly commissioned works presented for 16 edition of the Sharjah Biennial, elucidated through the curatorial theme, to carry. Asking questions such as what does it mean to carry a home, a history, a language, a legacy, and a lineage.Kaloki Nyamai is a multidisciplinary artist working with installation, painting, and sculpture living and working in Nairobi. Born in Kenya, from an early age, his mother introduced him to painting and taught him to draw, fostering an ever-lasting interest in art throughout his life. He studied Interior Design at the Buruburu Institute Of Fine Arts (BIFA) and then pursued painting after working in other creative fields. His large-scale paintings and mixed-media installations intricately explore historical narratives, examining their resonance in the present. Using materials like acrylic paint, sisal rope, photo transfers, and stitched yarn, Nyamai's free-hanging pieces evoke the healing of historical wounds and a collective yearning for renewal. Rooted in Kenya's rich heritage—particularly of the Kamba people—Nyamai draws inspiration from traditions passed down to him by his mother and grandmother, and the dynamic rhythms of contemporary life in Nairobi. In this episode, he reflects on the themes of community and new beginnings expressed in his work on display. Nyamai delves into his inspiration drawn from ancestral storytelling and the importance of maintaining cultural heritage through art. He emphasizes the impact of oral traditions in African cultures and shares insights into his unique use of materials that link his art to cultural and historical narratives. Additionally, Nyamai highlights the Kamene Art Residency he launched in 2023 to promote artistic growth and cultural exchange in Nairobi, which has blossomed into a cultural center.-------------------------------------------------------------------- WHERE YOU CAN FOLLOW ME AND SUBSCRIBE Website - Sign up for my newsletter https://lightworkco.com/ Instagram - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sadeolo/https://www.instagram.com/lightworkcompany/ YouTube - Subscribe to my YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/@lightworkco

On this episode I'm joined by Rajni Perera as we discuss his newly commissioned works presented for 16 edition of the Sharjah Biennial, elucidated through the curatorial theme, to carry. Asking questions such as what does it mean to carry a home, a history, a language, a legacy, and a lineage? Rajni Perera was born in Sri Lanka in 1985 and lives and works in Toronto. She explores issues of hybridity, futurity, ancestorship, migrant and marginalized identities/cultures, monsters and dream worlds. These themes come together to fuel explorations within a multimedia practice that includes drawing and painting, clay, wood, lanterns, new media sculpture, textile, and most recently, synthetic taxidermy. In this episode, Rajni discusses how the dual influences of Canadian and Sri Lankan cultures shape her art, while highlighting the importance of contrasting her artisanal roots with Western art school experiences and hands-on, skill-based creation. She also goes into greater detail discussing the work  'Gatekeeper,' which explores themes of birth, motherhood, and the complexities around these subjects. The site of her installation, an old hospital, holds significance as a site of history and memory. -------------------------------------------------------------------- WHERE YOU CAN FOLLOW ME AND SUBSCRIBE Website - Sign up for my newsletter https://lightworkco.com/ Instagram - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sadeolo/https://www.instagram.com/lightworkcompany/ YouTube - Subscribe to my YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/@lightworkco

On this episode I'm joined by Daniel Boyd as we discuss his newly commissioned work presented for 16 edition of the Sharjah Biennial, elucidated through the curatorial theme, to carry. Asking questions such as, what does it mean to carry a home, a history, a language, a legacy, and a lineage.Born in 1982 in Cairns Australia, Daniel Boyd is one of Australia's most highly regarded artists. In 2014, Boyd became the first indigenous artist to win the prestigious Bulgari Art Prize, for his work, Untitled (2014), that referenced Australia's long but little known history of slavery. The painting is both a personal and social account of history, Pentecost Island was home to Daniel's great, great paternal grandfather before he was taken as slave to the sugarcane fields in Queensland. Through his artistic practice, he seeks to negotiate the identity of art, history and cultural survival through his investigations of oppressed and colonial culture. Daniel has been showing in Australia and internationally since 2005, and he participated in the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015, as curated by Okwui Enwezor.In this episode, Daniel discusses his installation for the Sharjah Biennial 16 and his use of black vinyl to create an immersive environment in the iconic star-shaped building, The Flying Saucer. He talks about his artistic approach, which engages with the history of modernism, the built environment, and First Nations Australian perspectives on placemaking. He also reflects on his responsibility as an Aboriginal artist to share his people's stories and how art can offer a counter-narrative to Australia's oppressive history. He elaborates on the importance of art in slowing down and engaging deeply, mentioning influences like the American artist Bruce Nauman and the Martinican literary titan and influential philosopher, Edouard Glissant. -------------------------------------------------------------------- WHERE YOU CAN FOLLOW ME AND SUBSCRIBE Website - Sign up for my newsletter https://lightworkco.com/ Instagram - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sadeolo/https://www.instagram.com/lightworkcompany/ YouTube - Subscribe to my YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/@lightworkco

On this episode I'm joined by Zadie Xa as we discuss her newly commissioned works presented for 16 edition of the Sharjah Biennial, elucidated through the curatorial theme, to carry. Asking questions such as what does it mean to carry a home, a history, a language, a legacy, and a lineage.Zadie Xa was born in Vancouver, Canada on unceded, ancestral and continually asserted territories of several tribes of First Nations Peoples and is now based in London, UK. Her practice focuses on familial legacies, interspecies communication and diasporic worlding. Throughout her practice, Xa uses water and marine ecologies as metaphors for exploring the unknown whilst also alluding to abstract notions of homeland. She explores these themes through immersive installations that appeal to the sensory experience of the viewer, often incorporating painting, sculpture, textile, sound and performance elements. Zadie earned an MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art in 2014 and a BFA at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 2007.In the episode Xa, describes one of the key influences on her work being Korean shamanism, which she discovered accidentally through the 1977 film 'Ido Island.' She explains how this discovery has profoundly impacted her artistic exploration of marginalized perspectives and the supernatural, and the importance of collaboration in her practice, notably with her longtime collaborator and life partner Benito Mayor Vallejo. -------------------------------------------------------------------- WHERE YOU CAN FOLLOW ME AND SUBSCRIBE Website - Sign up for my newsletter https://lightworkco.com/ Instagram - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sadeolo/https://www.instagram.com/lightworkcompany/ YouTube - Subscribe to my YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/@lightworkco

On this episode I'm joined by Julian Knxx as we discuss his newly commissioned work presented for 16 edition of the Sharjah Biennial, elucidated through the curatorial theme, to carry. Asking questions such as, what does it mean to carry a home, a history, a language, a legacy, and a lineage.Julianknxx's work merges his poetic practice with films and performance; he engages in a form of existential inquiry that at once seeks to find ways of expressing the ineffable realities of human experiences while examining the structures through which we live.In casting his own practice as a ‘living archive' or an ‘history from below', Julianknxx draws on West African traditions of oral history to reframe how we construct both local and global perspectives. He does this through a body of work that challenges fixed ideas of identity and unravels linear Western historical and socio-political narratives, attempting to reconcile how it feels to exist primarily in liminal spaces. In the episode, Julian reflects on his transition from poetry to incorporating film and performance in his artistic practice. He shares how influences from his West African heritage and personal experiences led him to explore new mediums that could encapsulate his narratives more holistically. He delves into his project for Sharjah Biennial 16, inspired by a dancer named Dorothée Munyaneza, who performed a ritual dance reflecting on her grandmother.-------------------------------------------------------------------- WHERE YOU CAN FOLLOW ME AND SUBSCRIBE Instagram - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sadeolo/https://www.instagram.com/lightworkcompany/ YouTube - Subscribe to my YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/@lightworkco Website - Sign up for my newsletter https://lightworkco.com/

On this episode I'm joined by Ndidi Dike as we discuss her newly commissioned works presented for 16 edition of the Sharjah Biennial, elucidated through the curatorial theme, to carry. Asking questions such as what does it mean to carry a home, a history, a language, a legacy, and a lineage.Ndidi Dike was born in London. She returned to Nigeria to train as a painter and graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, graduating with a BA degree in mixed media painting. Although internationally known as a sculptor, having taught herself to sculpt, with decades of transgressive sculptural practice. In the current climate of contemporary politics, protectionism, nationalism and globalization Dike primarily works as a multi-media artist with a special interest in personal archives and long term researched based projects and engagement with global histories to address the pre and post-colonial historic and social-economic legacy of the enslaved, forced migration, and memory among other issues. Ndidi participated in the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale in 2024 with two commissions, "Blackhood: the Living Archive" and  "Bearing Witness: Optimism In A Disquiet Present." In the episode Dike discusses her art practice, focusing on installations that examine complex themes such as pre and post-colonialism, global capitalism, and the impacts of the resource extraction industry in Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar. She reflects on her latest works showcased at the Sharjah Biennial 16. -------------------------------------------------------------------- WHERE YOU CAN FOLLOW ME AND SUBSCRIBE Instagram - Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sadeolo/https://www.instagram.com/lightworkcompany/ YouTube - Subscribe to my YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/@lightworkco Website - Sign up for my newsletter https://lightworkco.com/

On this episode I'm joined by Hoor Al Qasimi during the opening week of the Sharjah Biennial.Al Qasimi is the President and Director Sharjah Art Foundation, an organization she founded in 2009 as a catalyst and advocate for the arts around the world. She has been the Director of Sharjah Biennial since 2002, an internationally recognized platform for contemporary artists, curators and cultural producers, and curated Thinking Historically in the Present, the Sharjah Biennial 15 in 2023, originally conceived by the late Nigerian curator, Okwui Enwezor. After establishing the Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) in 2009, she developed programming that included exhibitions, artist residencies, and educational initiatives, aimed at fostering a cross-cultural dialogue and exchange within the UAE and globally. Recently, Al Qasimi was named the artistic director for both the 2026 Biennale of Sydney and the 2025 Aichi Triennale in Japan—the latter appointment marking her as the first non-Japanese curator to hold the position.In this episode, the director reflects on the meaningful aspects of this year's edition of the Sharjah Biennial, the collaboration among the five curators, and the importance of showcasing art in small local communities. 

On this episode, I'm joined by Julien Creuzet, the Afro-descendant French Caribbean artist who has his first institutional solo exhibition on view now through June 1, 2025 at The Bell at Brown University in Providence Rhode Island. In the episode Creuzet shares his artistic journey and passion for making exhibitions where he can have a discussion through art. His work spans various mediums including sculpture, poetry, video, music, and more. Here, he's reimagined his French Pavillion from the 60th Venice Biennale for The Bell, focusing on water as a site of both historical and contemporary traumas and emancipatory futures. Creuzet's artistic practice has long referenced legacies of colonialism, and his challenge to the architecture and history of the French Pavilion extends to Brown University's campus and Providence's centrality within the Black Atlantic. He delves into the autonomy in his creative process and how identity influences his work's adaptability across different cultural and political contexts. The exhibition reflects on the colonial history of Martinique, connections between different regions, and the fluidity of human identity. Brown is situated near the Providence River, one of the many Rhode Island ports through which the largest number of enslaved Africans entered the Thirteen Colonies prior to 1774. Triangulated with Africa and the Caribbean in the 18th century, the shipping industry of Rhode Island evolved to be deeply enmeshed with the U.S. cotton industry as the region became a center of textile production in the 19th century. Creuzet is fascinated by the watery connection between Venice, the Caribbean island of Martinique where his family has lived for generations, and Providence, conceptualizing the migration of the pavilion across a Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean dense with histories that have long informed his work. The presentation at Brown is of a different viscosity, an adaptation to Providence waterways and colonial thematics that are present on campus and loom large across the region. 

 On this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Joy Simmons. Dr. Joy Simmons  is a radiologist, art collector, and philanthropist. In this episode, she discusses her multifaceted engagement with the arts. Beyond simply acquiring works, Dr. Simmons supports an entire arts ecosystem from artists to small non profits to galleries and museums through her work, her stewardship, and her commitment.She emphasizes the importance of visibility and community support for Black artists, writers, and curators. Dr. Simmons shares how her collection has grown over the years, and the unique installations in her home, highlighting the personal and cultural significance behind each piece. In the episode, she also reflects on the evolving art scene, the importance of preserving Black culture through art, and the impact of the recent wildfires in L.A. and the sociopolitical changes on the art community. 

 On this episode, I'm joined by Shinique Smith.  Born in Baltimore, Maryland, and now Los Angeles based,  Shinique Smith is best known for her visual poetry,  monumental fabric sculptures, and paintings of calligraphy and collage that engage abstraction. Her work gained critical acclaim and widespread attention through her participation in important group exhibitions, including Frequency at the Studio Museum in Harlem, 30 Americans organized by the Rubell Family Collection and Unmonumental at the New Museum.  Last fall, Smith unveiled a new monumental aluminum sculpture for Miami Arts in Public Spaces at the Port of Miami. She currently has work on view in several shows across the US, including By Way Of: Material and Motion in the Guggenheim Collection, curated by Naomi Beckwith, Poetics of Dimensions at the ICASF, curated by guest curator Larry Ossei-Mensah, and earlier this month, Smith opened up a two person show celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Nigerian Rele Gallery, Social Fabrics, Magic and Memory, features Smith's work in conversation with Lagos-based artist. Marcelina Acpojotor. Over the last twenty years, Smith has gleaned visual poetry from clothing and explored concepts of ritual using breath, bunding and calligraphy as tools toward abstraction. Her layered works range from palm-sized bundled microcosms to monolithic bales to massive chaotic paintings that contain vibrant and carefully collected mementos from her life. Smith's practice operates at the convergence of consumption and spiritual sanctuary, balancing forces and revealing connections across space and time, race, gender and place to suggest the possibility of new worlds. 

On this episode I'm joined by Taylor Renee Aldridge. Taylor Renee Aldridge is a writer and curator based in Detroit, Michigan. In 2014, with writer Jessica Lynne, she co-founded ARTS.BLACK, an online journal of art criticism from Black perspectives. In Fall 2024, she assumed the role of Executive Director at the Modern Ancient Brown Foundation. In the episode we discuss her return to her native Detroit, the importance of ancestral practice, why there's a lack of art criticism today, and what she's excited about for the future. Taylor has edited and contributed to numerous exhibition catalogs, including Enunciated Life (CAAM, 2021) and Mario Moore | Enshrined: Presence + Preservation (Charles H. Wright Museum, 2021).  Her writing has appeared in Artforum, The Art Newspaper, Art21, ARTNews, CanadianArt, Contemporary&, Detroit Metro Times and SFMOMA's Open Space. She has organized exhibitions with the California African American Museum (CAAM), Detroit Institute of Arts, and Cranbrook Art Museum, including the critically acclaimed Simone Leigh (2024, CAAM & LACMA). Taylor is the recipient of the 2016 Creative Capital | Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant for Short Form Writing and the 2019 Rabkin Foundation Award for Art Journalism. She holds an MLA from Harvard University with a concentration in Museum Studies and a BA from Howard University with a concentration in Art History.

On this episode I'm joined by Ekow Eshun. Ekow Eshun is a writer, editor and curator, known for his work in arts, culture, and identity. In the episode we discuss his latest exhibition, The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure, on view through February 9 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The show brings together over 60 contemporary works that unfold around three core themes: Double Consciousness, Past and Presence and Aliveness. As the former Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, he played a significant role in shaping the institution's programming. Image Credit:  Zeinab Batchelor Contributing Audio Credit: Alan Mckinney 

We're back with another season of Everything is Connected in 2025! Before we get started with a new season I just want to take a moment and say thank you to all of the listeners from all over the world. We had more listener-ship in 2024 across the globe than ever before. So thank you all. It's really such a joy and such a pleasure to be in company with you on this journey.Being in conversation with artists and curators, visual creatives, and cultural leaders. People who are actively thinking about our world, investigating our society, and doing that through the visual landscape, through curatorial projects, and through thinking about creative solutions to some of the world's problems.

On this episode, I'm joined by Otobong Nkanga as we discuss her latest commission, Cadence, on view at the MoMA now through summer 2025. I first discovered her work when I wrote about her earlier this year for the summer issue of Sculpture Magazine.Otobong Nkanga, a multidisciplinary visual artist born in Nigeria and based in Antwerp, Belgium, explores themes of memory, identity, and the complex relationships between people and their environment. Nkanga's art is deeply rooted in storytelling, using materials like minerals, textiles, and organic substances to narrate humanity's interaction with land and resources. Nkanga's work has garnered international acclaim, including numerous exhibitions at prestigious institutions such as Tate Modern, Castello di Rivoli, and the Venice Biennale. In 2019, she received the Sharjah Biennial Prize and the prestigious Ultima Prize for Visual Arts in Belgium. Her ongoing project Carved to Flow, which merges art, community, and sustainability, exemplifies her commitment to creating dialogues around ethical consumption and interconnectedness. Nkanga's innovative work continues to influence contemporary art, prompting critical reflections on the ties between ecology, culture, and the global economy.

On this episode I'm joined by Jammie Holmes as we discuss his work and practice; the journey that led him into art and the focus of his practice today. His exhibition, Morning Thoughts, at Marianne Boesky Gallery is on view when we sit down to talk about his origin story and some of the ideas he's investigating in his latest body of work.   Incorporating portraiture, symbolism, and written text into his work, Holmes intersperses reflections on social, cultural, and political concerns with deeply felt meditations on notions of family, home, and Blackness. He is a storyteller whose determination to imbue his work with his own subjective, lived experience is itself a subtle, effective political gesture.  His work has been included in numerous group exhibitions, including: Afro-Atlantic Histories, which traveled to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; and the Dallas Museum of Art, TX. 

On this episode I'm joined by Kandy G Lopez as we discuss her practice on the eve of the closing of her two person show with Aminah Robinson at ACA gallery in Chelsea. In the exhibition viewers were presented with her mixed media, fiber, and stained glass works. Lopez  is an Afro-Caribbean visual artist, eager to be challenged materialistically and metaphorically when representing marginalized individuals that inspire and move her. Her works are created out of the necessity to learn something new about her people and culture. Lopez is interested in developing a nostalgic dialogue between the artwork and the viewer. This episode was recorded before the results of the 2024 US Presidential Election. 

On this episode I'm joined by  Genevieve Gaignard as we discuss her latest exhibition, and third solo with Vielmetter Los Angeles, Thinking Out Loud. In the show, Gaignard excavates concepts of identity and reflects on the intersections of life's journey.  In what might be Gaignard's most intimate body of work to date, Thinking Out Loud overlaps her practice with her most recent lived experience, set against the backdrop of her newly situated life in New York where she has a new studio. Her symbol-laden, cryptic work speaks to larger truths: the building and breaking down of walls, the rupture of domesticity as wallpaper tears, and the detritus of everyday life that we must all work our way through. Gaignard explores the veil as armor, representing protection while moving through growth.  Gaignard has described her working process as a “lived playlist, a diaristic processing of my life, a creative vibe set against the backdrop of mix tapes and personal soundtracks that transcends, romanticizes, and provides an escape from the everyday.” 

On this episode, I'm joined by Paul Anthony Smith. His latest show, Antillean, is on view at Jack Shainman Gallery when we sit down to talk. Paul has just returned from London, where he attended Frieze London, and spent time seeing his Jamaican family, who lives there. In the episode, Paul reflects on the history of the Caribbean and explores themes of migration. We discussed how photography plays a key role in his work, and his use of labor-intensive techniques, such as the hand-scratching method known as picotage, including how becoming a father has changed his perspective on life and creativity.In Antillean, he continues his exploration of the ways in which memory, both personal and historical, can shape the present and fragment the past. This body of works stems from photographs Smith made during Carnival festivities in Trinidad and Tobago from 2020 to 2023. Paul Anthony Smith was born in Jamaica in 1988 and currently lives and works in New York City. 

On this episode, I'm joined by Chiwoniso Kaitano Executive Director of MacDowell, the nation's first artist residency program. She is the 10th person to lead the organization since 1907. Before joining MacDowell, Chi spent the last four years at the helm of Girl Be Heard, expanding its organizational budget, increasing individual giving by 200 percent, and growing both the staff and board. Prior to Girl Be Heard, she served as executive director of Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy, a 30-year-old Brooklyn-based arts and culture organization. She is an avid traveler, having lived on three continents. She holds a law degree from the London School of Economics and a master's in international affairs from Columbia University's School for International and Public Affairs. She also serves on the Board of Directors of three New York City-based nonprofits: the International Contemporary Ensemble, The Center for Fiction (formerly The Mercantile Library), and The Jazz Leaders Fellowship of Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. Originally from Zimbabwe, she currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. 

On this episode, I'm joined by Samuel Levi Jones ahead of his latest solo exhibition at Vielmetter, Los Angeles, abstraction of truth. The exhibition presents a profound and timely critique of the structures that shape our understanding of authority and history. Jones' method of deconstructing books and now, flags serves as a powerful metaphor for the dismantling of the colonial and imperial narratives that continue to influence our legal and social systems. By physically tearing apart these symbols of power and reassembling them into abstract compositions, Jones not only challenges the authority of these texts but also invites viewers to question the origins and implications of the knowledge they represent.Samuel Levi Jones was born and raised in Marion, Indiana, and he lives and works in Indianapolis, Indiana. Trained as a photographer and multidisciplinary artist, he earned a B.A. in Communication Studies from Taylor University and a B.F.A from Herron School of Art and Design in 2009. He received his MFA in Studio Art from Mills College in 2012. He is the recipient of the 2014 Joyce Alexander Wein artist prize awarded by the Studio Museum in Harlem.

On this final episode of Everything is Connected: African Artists & Curators in the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale, I'm joined by Sir John Akomfrah RA. Akomfrah is a Ghanaian-born British artist, writer, film director, screenwriter, theorist and curator.  A pioneering filmmaker, Akomfrah creates multichannel video installations that critically examine the legacy of colonialism, the Black diaspora, and environmental degradation. Akomfrah weaves together original footage with archival material to create stirring, layered narratives that juxtapose personal and historical memory, past and present, and environmental and human crises. This year, Akomfrah was commissioned by the British Council to represent Great Britain with his multi-layered film piece, 'Listening All Night to the Rain.' This exclusive season of Everything is Connected: African Artists & Curators in the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale is sponsored by The Africa Institute, Global Studies University. Light Work is a creative media platform rooted at the intersection of art, education, and culture highlighting the work of emerging, mid-car.eer, and established artists from diverse communities and the art professionals who seek to amplify their achievements and contributions to society

On this episode I'm joined by Sandra Poulson. Sandra Poulson is an Angolan artist based in London and Luanda. Poulson draws from personal experiences and observations growing up in Luanda, Angola, a former Portuguese colony. Her work investigates the political, cultural, and socio-economic landscape of Angola analyzing the relationship between history, oral tradition, and global political structures. I first discovered Poulson's work earlier this year on a trip to Sharjah when I visited the Sharjah Art Foundation and The Africa Institute. At the time, Poulson's work, as part of the Sharjah Architecture Triennale, was still on view. This exclusive season of Everything is Connected: African Artists & Curators in the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale is sponsored by The Africa Institute, Global Studies University. Light Work is a creative media platform rooted at the intersection of art, education, and culture highlighting the work of emerging, mid-career, and established artists from diverse communities and the art professionals who seek to amplify their achievements and contributions to society.

On this episode I'm joined by Wael Shawky. Wael Shawky is an Egyptian artist working between Alexandria and Philadelphia, whose practice is based on extensive periods of research and inquiry, tackling notions of national, religious and artistic identity through film, performance and storytelling. Shawky reconsiders historical narratives and contemporary culture. He was commissioned by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture to represent Egypt this year in the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale. This exclusive season of Everything is Connected: African Artists & Curators in the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale is sponsored by The Africa Institute, Global Studies University. Light Work is a creative media platform rooted at the intersection of art, education, and culture highlighting the work of emerging, mid-career, and established artists from diverse communities and the art professionals who seek to amplify their achievements and contributions to society.

On this episode I'm joined by Azu Nwagbogu, curator and a National Geographic Explorer at large and director and founder of Lagos Photo Festival and African Artists' Foundation (AAF), a non-profit organization based in Lagos, Nigeria dedicated to the promotion of art in Africa with the purpose of developing talent, creating societal awareness, and providing a platform to express creativity. He is also the curator of the first ever pavilion of the Republic of Benin at the Venice Biennale. This exclusive season of Everything is Connected: African Artists & Curators in the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale is sponsored by The Africa Institute, Global Studies University. Light Work is a creative media platform rooted at the intersection of art, education, and culture highlighting the work of emerging, mid-career, and established artists from diverse communities and the art professionals who seek to amplify their achievements and contributions to society.

On this episode I'm joined by MADEYOULOOK the South African, Johannesburg based interdisciplinary artist collaborative between Molemo Moiloa and Nare Mokgotho. The works of MADEYOULOOK take as their point of departure everyday Black practices that have either been historically overlooked or deemed inconsequential. These works encourage a re-observation of and de-familiarisation with the everyday of urban South African life. This exclusive season of Everything is Connected: African Artists and Curators in the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale is sponsored by The Africa Institute, Global Studies University. Light Work is a creative media platform rooted at the intersection of art, education, and culture highlighting the work of emerging, mid-career, and established artists from diverse communities and the art professionals who seek to amplify their achievements and contributions to society.

On this episode I'm joined by Aindrea Emelife. Aindrea Emelife is a Nigerian-British curator and art historian specializing in modern and contemporary art, with a focus on questions around colonial and decolonial histories in Africa, transnationalism and the politics of representation. Aindrea is currently Curator, Modern and Contemporary at MOWAA (Museum of West African Art,). She is also the curator of the Nigeria Pavilion at this year's 60th edition of the Venice Biennale. This exclusive season of Everything is Connected: African Artists in the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale is sponsored by The Africa Institute, Global Studies University. The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, is an interdisciplinary academic research institute dedicated to the study, research and documentation of Africa, its people, and its cultures; its complex past, present and future; and its manifold connections with the wider world. The Institute is conceived as a research-based think-tank, and a postgraduate studies institution (offering both master's and Ph.D. programs), which aims to train a new generation of critical thinkers in African and African diaspora studies. The institute programs include international symposia and conferences, teaching of African languages and translation programs, active publishing of books and periodicals, visual art exhibitions and artist commissions, film and performance series, and community classes and outreach events.Light Work is a creative media platform rooted at the intersection of art, education, and culture highlighting the work of emerging, mid-career, and established artists from diverse communities and the art professionals who seek to amplify their achievements and contributions to society.

Stay tuned for an exclusive limited series of Light Work presents: Everything is Connected - The Venice Biennale Edition sponsored by The Africa Institute, Global Studies University launching next week! The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, is an interdisciplinary academic research institute dedicated to the study, research and documentation of Africa, its people, and its cultures; its complex past, present and future; and its manifold connections with the wider world. The Institute is conceived as a research-based think-tank, and a postgraduate studies institution (offering both master's and Ph.D. programs), which aims to train a new generation of critical thinkers in African and African diaspora studies. The institute programs include international symposia and conferences, teaching of African languages and translation programs, active publishing of books and periodicals, visual art exhibitions and artist commissions, film and performance series, and community classes and outreach events.For the series, Folasade Ologundudu, writer, curator, and the creator, host, and producer of Light Work Presents Everything is Connected, speaks with artists and curators of the African diaspora participating in this year's 60th edition of the Venice Biennale. Before, during the vernissage, and after the VIP opening of the Venice Biennale, Ologundudu engages in-depth conversation with artists and curators during this historic edition of the Biennale, presenting  more African nations and artists than ever before.Light Work is a creative media platform rooted at the intersection of art, education, and culture highlighting the work of emerging, mid career, and established artists from diverse communities and the art professionals who seek to amplify their achievements and contributions to society.

On this episode I'm joined by Kenturah Davis as we discuss her latest exhibition and her first solo in the UK with Stephen Friedman gallery. Kenturah Davis is a visual artist based between Los Angeles, California  and Accra, Ghana. Her work oscillates between various facets of portraiture and design. Using text as a point of departure, she explores the fundamental role that language has in shaping how we understand ourselves and the world around us. This manifests in a variety of forms including drawings, textiles, sculpture and performances. Her work has been included in institutional exhibitions in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. Davis earned her BA from Occidental College and MFA  Yale University School of Art.

On this episode I'm joined by LaToya M. Hobbs. LaToya M. Hobbs is an artist, wife, and mother of two from Little Rock, AR, who is currently living and working in Baltimore, MD. She received her B.A. in Painting from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and M.F.A. in Printmaking from Purdue University. Her work deals with figurative imagery that addresses the ideas of beauty, cultural identity, and womanhood as they relate to women of the African Diaspora. Her exhibition record includes numerous national and international venues, including the National Art Gallery of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia; SCAD Museum of Art; Albright Knox Museum, and Sophia Wanamaker Galleries in San Jose, Costa Rica, among others. Her work is housed in private and public collections such as the Harvard Art Museum, Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art, the National Art Gallery of Namibia, the Getty Research Institute, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Other accomplishments include the 2020 Janet and Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize, a nomination for the 2022 Queen Sonja Print Award and a 2022 IFPDA Artis Grant. Hobbs is also a Professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art and a founding member of Black Women of Print, a collective whose vision is to make visible the narratives and works of Black women printmakers, past, present and future. 

On this episode I'm joined by Jade Thacker. Jade Thacker received her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design and has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at Kravets Wehby Gallery, New York; Public Gallery, London; WOAW gallery, Beijing, and many more.  Thacker has participated in residencies at Fountainhead Residency, Miami and The Cabin, Los Angeles. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn.  Thacker's work delves into the internal conflicts and powerful emotional states that often remain veiled and hard to define. Her boldly colored figurative canvases convey the inner turmoil and subconscious tensions experienced by so many, shedding light on the complexities of human emotion. Her third solo show ‘Personal Weather' is currently on view at Jupiter Gallery in Miami when we sit down to talk about her latest show. 

On this episode I'm joined by Sedrick Chisom as we discuss his latest exhibition at C L E A R I N G gallery, And 108 Prayers of Evil. Sedrick Chisom (b. 1989, Philadelphia) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He received a full scholarship to study at Cooper Union, where he completed his BFA in 2016 and was awarded the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation Award for Exceptional Ability. In 2018, he received his MFA from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Chisom was awarded the 2018–2019 VCU Fountainhead Fellowship in Painting and Drawing at the Macedonia Institute and was a 2019 resident at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.At the center of Sedrick Chisom's practice is a commitment to confounding racial origin myths and pseudosciences toward creating apocalyptic fantasies in writing and painting. Appropriating imagery from Black Lives Matter demonstrations, medieval Christian iconography, and Greek mythology, Chisom questions who has the power to construct natural and social worlds, upending the authority of those worlds in the process. Chisom appoints himself a new mythmaker, one whose motivation is fundamentally pro-Black and who is committed to the acceleration of new imaginative possibilities. - Pilar Corrias gallery 

On this episode I'm joined by, Adrienne Elise Tarver.  Adrienne Elise Tarver is an interdisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY with a practice that spans painting, sculpture, installation, photography, textiles, and video. Her work addresses the complexity and invisibility of Black female identity including the history within domestic spaces, the fantasy of the tropical seductress, and the archetype of the all-knowing spiritual matriarch. Adrienne is a week away from opening her latest solo show and her fourth with Dinner gallery when we sit down to talk about her work and practice. 

On this episode I'm joined by Mario Joyce. Mario Joyce is a self-taught African American artist based in Los Angeles. His process began early and was heavily influenced by prejudices experienced growing up Black and Queer in rural Ohio. He uses genealogical research, soil from the Ohio he grew up on, carefully sourced vintage collage materials and oil paint to explore how American History is steeped in selective storytelling that neglects to share the experiences of marginalized communities. Mario is a 2023 alum of Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, has recently completed the Pratt>FORWARD residency at New Lab in Brooklyn Navy Yard, in New York City. Joyce's latest show at UTA Artist Space in Los Angeles closed a few weeks prior when we sit down to talk about his work and practice. 

On this episode I'm joined by Maria Elena Ortiz. Maria comes to the Modern from the Pérez Art Museum in Miami (PAMM), where she curated discerning exhibitions such as Allied with Power: African and African Diaspora Art from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection and The Other Side of Now: Foresight in Caribbean Art. At PAMM and with support of the Mellon Foundation, Ortiz founded and spearheaded the Caribbean Cultural Institute (CCI)—a curatorial platform dedicated to Caribbean art. During her tenure in Miami, Ortiz worked to diversify the museum's collection, securing works by Simone Leigh, Bisa Butler, Bony Ramirez, and others.María joined the Modern in 2022. Her first exhibition with the museum, Surrealism and Us: Caribbean and African Diasporic Artists since 1940 is on view now until July 28, 2024. The show inspired by the history of Surrealism in the Caribbean with connections to notions of the Afrosurreal in the United States. Representing a global perspective, this exhibition is the first intergenerational show dedicated to Caribbean and African diasporic art presented at the Modern. Listen in as we talk about her latest show, what inspires her work, and what she's most passionate about. 

On this episode, I'm joined by Mario Moore. Mario Moore is a Detroit native, who received a BFA from the College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI in 2009 and an MFA in Painting from the Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT in 2013. I met Mario late last fall in Detroit when I attended the DIA Gala and spent a weekend in the city, checking out the art scene and meeting some of the city's key players. Moore's paintings focus on the personal, social, and political implications of our segregated society.  Presenting stories of his own life and those of friends and family, Moore weaves in multiple references to history, art, politics, and literature to complete his narrative. Listen in as we talk about some of the things that make Detroit such a unique city. The changes he's seen take place over the years, his time at Yale, and his love for painting.

Late last year, as I was ending my season, the news of Radcliffe Bailey's passing was announced and sent shockwaves throughout the art world among his friends, family, peers. At the time, I was planning on recording an episode with Karen Comer Lowe, a long time arts professional and curator based in Atlanta. As Karen began to share with me her introduction into the art world, she mentioned the importance of Radcliffe's presence in her life and their friendship. This immediately prompted me to not only want to hear Karen reflect back and share some of the stories and memories that she had of Radcliffe, but I wanted to take the opportunity to talk to more people about his life and the incredible impact that he left on the people that he touched over the course of his lifetime.In this episode, you'll hear testimonials from friends, colleagues, and those who considered Radcliffe family including Joeanna Bellorado-Samuels, Franklin Sirmans, Sheila Pree Bright, Trevor  Schoonmaker, Sandra Jackson-Dumont, Karen Comer Lowe, Isolde Brielmaier, and Larry Ossei-Mensah. So many are mourning his loss and this is an opportunity to celebrate his life and legacy. 

On this episode I'm joined by Essence Harden. Essence Harden is the Visual Arts curator at CAAM,  the California African American Museum.  She' s one of two curators of the Made in L.A. biennial taking place next year in 2025. This year, Essence was named the curator of Focus at Frieze LA.  For this year's focus, Essence explores the intimate, environmental, and urban dimensions of ecologies. Across all  Frieze Fairs, Focus is a space dedicated to galleries founded within the last 12 years. So there's lots of emerging galleries and artists to discover. Just last week, the Hammer Museum named Essence one of two curators of the 7th edition of the Made in LA Biennial. to be held in the fall of 2025. When I catch up with Essence, she's fresh off a call with friend and artist Lauren Halsey. On this episode, we chat about Lauren Halsey, the importance of place and geographies, and her curation of Focus at Frieze LA opening next week.

On this episode I'm joined by Dominic chambers.  Dominic and I have known each other for a couple of years now and I've watched his practice grow so much in that time. It's been a minute since we sat down and talked about his work and practice, so it was great to catch up with him and learn all about the work in his latest show at Lehmann Maupin gallery, and some of the things that have been inspiring him lately.Born in St. Louis Missouri, Chambers currently lives and works in New Haven CT. Chambers received his MFA from Yale in 2019. Chambers creates vibrant paintings that simultaneously engage art historical models, such as color-field painting and gestural abstraction, and contemporary concerns around race, identity, and the necessity for leisure and reflection. Interested in how art can function as a mode for understanding, recontextualizing, or renegotiating one's relationship to the world, the artist sees painting as a critical and intellectual endeavor, as much as an aesthetic one.

 Reginald has his first solo show open right now at Roberts projects in Los Angeles when we sit down to talk about his work and art practice.  Reginald Sylvester II works predominantly in abstraction, making large-scale paintings and sculptures which often include found objects. His show, at Roberts Projects, T-1000, features new and interconnected sculptures and paintings. In his latest series he transcends the traditional canvas, discovering novel methods of creative process through experimentation with and investigation into physical, industrial, and spiritual engagements with rubber, steel, and aluminum. 

On this episode I'm joined by Bethany Collins. Her first solo show is on view at  Alexander Gray Associates  when we sit down to talk about her latest works and the ideas and concepts that ground her practice. Bethany Collins is a multidisciplinary artist whose conceptual practice examines the relationship between race and language. Centering language—its biases, contradictions, and ability to simultaneously forge connections and foster violence—her works illuminate America's past and offer insight into the development of racial and national identities. Drawing on a wide variety of documents, ranging from nineteenth-century musical scores to US Department of Justice reports, she erases, obscures, excerpts, and rewrites portions of text to bring to the fore issues revolving around race, power, and histories of violence.

On this episode I'm joined by Sanford Biggers. Sanford Biggers was born in Los Angeles and currently lives and works in New York City, where he has for decades. Over the course of his career, Biggers has won numerous awards and exhibited in countless museums and exhibitions. His work is currently held in some of the world's most important artistic institutions from the Museum of Modern Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of Art, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.We're right in the middle of fall in New York City, when some of the most important shows of the year are presented. Fall art shows are easily some of the best you'll see all year in New York. At the time of this recording, Sanford has concurrent shows that have recently been on display in New York and Chicago with Marianne Boesky and Monique Meloche. 

On this episode I'm joined by Calida Rawles. Calida Rawles merges hyper-realistic paintings with poetic abstraction. Rawles opened her first major solo show in New York City where we hosted an artist talk this past weekend. In A Certain Oblivion, the title of her latest show, Rawles presents 10 paintings that reflect on the overturning of Roe v Wade, and what Calida calls ‘a dark time' in society. Where there is darkness there is also light. In this vein, Rawles views the challenges we face today as an opportunity to dream of a new and different future. 

On this episode I'm joined by Deborah Roberts. She's on the eve of her first show in New York City in over five years at Stephen Friedman gallery opening, "What about us?" at their newest space in Tribeca. It's an important moment for her as an artist and for the New York art scene. Deborah is showcasing some of her biggest works to date and playing with composition and scale in ways that are new to her practice. During the conversation we talk about some of the layers and the deeper context behind her work,  ideas that are integral to the way that she thinks about and experiences the world, and why she believes that her work and the perspective she's illustrating is important necessary and timely for people to see. 

On this episode I'm joined by Alteronce Gumby. Alteronce Gumby is an artist and local of New York City. His artistic practice includes painting, ceramics, installation and performance. Gumby's work has been exhibited at galleries such as Hauser & Wirth, Gladstone Gallery and Camden Arts Centre. Gumby graduated from the Yale School of Art with an MFA in Painting and Printmaking in 2016.  Using shards of tempered glass, gemstones, resins, and other unconventional materials, Alteronce Gumby creates luminous paintings that operate at the intersection of abstraction and representation. In his work, Gumby employs color as both material and metaphor, deftly harnessing its subtle effects and rich tonal relationships while also exploring color's capacity to create and convey meaning. His prismatic fields add new perspectives to the history of abstract painting by proposing deliberate connections between color, society and the universe. Alteronce conducts extensive research on his materials, examining their historical uses, kinetic abilities and ocular qualities. Once coalesced, these materials form unpredictable surfaces, alluding to the greater forces at play in the universe.Let's dive into my latest episode with Alteronce Gumby. It's filled with lots of lots as we talk all things, traveling, hip hop and doing what we do so kids who look just like us are inspired to realize their creative ambitions. 

On this episode I'm joined by Lisa Kim. Kim is the director of the Ford Foundation Gallery, an exhibition space within the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice. A former Gagosian Gallery staffer, Kim's previous post before joining the Ford Foundation Gallery was as director of cultural affairs at Two Trees Management Company, a real estate development firm in Brooklyn, where she oversaw the company's arts philanthropy, public art initiatives, produced the annual DUMBO Arts Festival (2011-2014).Let's dive into my latest episode with Lisa Kim where we'll learn more about her passions, why she believes art is important, and what she loves about collaboration.

On this episode I'm joined by Raelis Vasquez. A native of the Dominican Republic, Vasquez moved to the United States in 2002 when he was seven. He graduated with his BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and his MFA from Columbia University in 2021. It was around this time that I was first introduced to his work and I was immediately drawn to his figures.  Vasquez draws on historical, political and personal narratives through depictions of daily life. His painterly compositions evoke the complexities of Afro-Latinx experiences. Through attentiveness to the people and places he portrays and through his gestural brushwork, contrasts of warm and cool hues, and the use of texture, the figures in Raelis Vasquez' work often appear to simultaneously inhabit a space of ease and vulnerability, encouraging viewers to consider their own positions on class, race and geography. He's on the eve of opening his first solo show with PM/ AM Gallery in London and his first solo in over two years when we sit down to talk about his work and practice. 

On this episode I'm joined by Tariku Shiferaw.  Tariku Shiferaw is known for his practice of mark-making that explores the metaphysical ideas of painting and societal structures. This formal language of geometric abstraction is executed through densely layering material to create “marks,” gestures that interrogate space-making and reference the hierarchy of systems. 

On this episode I'm joined by Basil Kincaid. I first met Basil in Miami with Mindy Solomon, a Miami-based gallerist who has built a working relationship with Basil over the years exhibiting his work in multiple shows. Our introduction sparked a deeper conversation about Basil's work and practice, and in 2021 I wrote the exhibition text for his first monograph with Galleria Poggiali in Milan.  During our conversation we touched on when we first met, our shared experiences of spending time in Ghana, and some of the important experiences that have been critical to Basil's more recent work, with quilts.  

On this episode I'm joined by Tunji Adeniyi-Jones the London born, Nigerian painter whose lived and worked in New York for the past severalyears. Tunji is back from a long stint in Lagos when we sit down to talk about his experiences, life in Lagos, the importance of traveling, the commercial art world, and the importance of professional development for emerging artists. We bumped into each other at the opening for Africa Fashion at the Brooklyn museum a week earlier and also shared our thoughts on the importance of this moment in history regarding African diasporic cultures across the globe.