IT AIN’T ALL BLACK AND WHITE 

Featuring works by Artists

Denise Allen, Derrick Beasley, Mark Anthony Brown Jr., Leticia Clementina, Chris Facey, Titus Brooks Heagins, Gadisse Lee, Phillip “King Phill” Loken, Kwaku Osei, Jaylan Rhea, Cornell Watson

On Exhibition in the DAG Truist Gallery April 19 - June 2

Curatorial Statement

Black people are often asked to shrink their complex emotions into two categories, joy and pain; sitting high on joy as a reaction against the impact of colonization or burdened by pain that is exploited as the focal element in galleries, news, and social media. It Ain’t All Black and White is a photography exhibition that encourages us to consider emotions such as serenity, apprehension, yearning, and more. Captured by 11 dynamic photographers dedicated to documenting the fullness and complexity of Black life, this exhibition offers each of us an opportunity to see ourselves with renewed attention. 

Black people need to unapologetically center their stories, free of the white gaze, in order to examine our emotions and their relationship to our ancestors, community, and environment. These emotions have roots. They are living and breathing, steering our experiences and how we show up in the world. Examining the life source of our emotions provides an opportunity for us to welcome the liberation of introspection.

The images in this exhibition are black and white to demand that we focus on the subject, challenging the viewer to explore how the abundance of sophisticated emotions manifest in our physical, mental, and spiritual being. This abundance ultimately influences how we show up for ourselves, our families, our community, and beyond. What are they expressing in their face and/or body? How are they loving, living, and healing?  ~ Leticia Clementina