Miami based artist Onajide Shabaka explores ethnobotany, geology and archaeology as they relate to human history, society and culture. Through a combination of abstract, calligraphic works on paper, documentary photographs, sculpture and found objects, Alosúgbe traces Shabaka’s own family history along with the migrations of people and plants from the rice plantations of the Atlantic colonial slave era to 20th century Florida.
This exhibition derives from several years of ongoing research finding connections between colonial sites in the Low Country (Georgia & South Carolina), the Caribbean archipelago and Suriname.
Onajide Shabaka is a South Florida-based artist whose “studio” occupies a metaphorical space of a walk or a hike within the built urban environment. His walking practice takes him by many unkempt edges and along undeveloped or disused lots to capture the plants, people, and history in a poetic manner.
Funding for this exhibition
Alosúgbe was originally curated by and presented at Emerson Dorsch Gallery in Miami, where it was funded in part by The Ellies, Miami’s visual arts awards, presented by Oolite Arts. Support for Alosúgbe was also provided in part by Locust Projects through its Wavemaker Grants program, which is part of the Andy Warhol Foundation’s Regional Regranting Program. Wavemaker Grants is supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, and Wells Fargo. With generous project support from Disapora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator (Miami) and ReadyTex Gallery (Paramaribo, Suriname).
Onajide Shabaka: Alosúgbe: A Journey Across Time
January 2 – January 30, 2020
Studios of Key West
Sanger Gallery
533 Eaton St
Key West, FL 33040