A.J. MCCLENON

ARtist-in-residence / february 1 - April 30, 2021

A.J. McClenon is a multi-disciplinary artist born and raised in Washington, DC and currently residing in Chicago. A.J. holds a Masters in Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2014) and a Bachelor of Arts with a minor in creative writing from the University of Maryland College Park. A.J. has performed and shown work throughout the US, at institutions including Steppenwolf, The Promontory, Woman Made Gallery, Echo Park Film Center, Chicago Filmmakers, Fine Art Complex 1101, and Longwood Arts Center. A.J. is also a co-founder of F4F, a domestic venue that cultivates a femme community, centers blackness, and expands upon understandings of what domestic space can be.

Alongside with artistic experiences, A.J. is passionate about teaching and community collaborations with the goal that all the memories and histories that are said to have “too many Black people,” are told and retold again. As a means to uphold these stories A.J. creates performances, installations, objects, sounds, visuals, and writings. These creations often revolve around an interest in water and aquatic life, escapism, Blackness, science, grief, US history, and the global future. A.J. is deeply invested in leveling the hierarchies of truth and using personal narrative to speak on political and cultural amnesia, and their absurdities.

Learn more about A.J.’s work at www.ajmcclenon.com

RESIDENT PROJECT: Notes from vega EXHIBITION

A.J. presents a new body of work derived from VEGA, an ongoing project that presents a stage of a dystopian future. In Notes from VEGA, we are invited to take a glimpse at the resilience of Black people and their ability to adapt and evolve in any circumstance. When the earth is no longer able to sustain their livelihoods and options are limited, they return to water—the source of life.

A.J. asks that you help predict DC's future and the role that generations of DC natives will play in VEGA. How will D.C.'s collective vision, histories and memories shape the future?

BLACK HOLE PUBLIC PROGRAM

Saturday, APRIL 24th, 12-5pm

A.J. McClenon’s residency concludes at The Nicholson Project with Notes from VEGA | Black Hole; an outdoor public art program. Based on the ongoing project VEGA, A.J. invites the DC community to step into an alternate reality and reimagine what Black life could be in the distant future.

Notes From VEGA | Black Hole will be hosted at The Nicholson Project on Saturday, April 24, 2021 from 12-5pm. For the safety of our artists, community, and staff, visitors in attendance are required to wear a mask and maintain a distance of 6 feet from other attendees. The Nicholson Project seeks to maintain CDC regulations for the safety of all art lovers.

Black Hole Public Program →