KOKAYI
BLACKNESS AND THE INFINITE POTENTIAL WELL
APRIL 21 - JUNE 18, 2022
OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, APRIL 21, 2022, 6-8PM
ARTIST TALK: SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 12-1PM
The Nicholson Project is proud to present Blackness and the Infinite Potential Well, a solo exhibition by Kokayi, curated by Jarvis DuBois. Exhausted and frustrated by the ever-present images of black death and trauma, multimedia artist and musician Kokayi offers a new way of seeing and being seen. Blackness and the Infinite Potential Well brings together sculpture, film, sound, and digital collage to create an immersive experience of varied and nuanced Black critique, joy, and resilience. On view from April 21 through June 18, 2022, the exhibition debuts new work created during the artist’s residency at The Nicholson Project.
Blackness and the Infinite Potential Well has three main parts, the center of which is Monolith, a monument of reflection and memorial to African spirituality and cultural resonance. Monolith represents a place of affirmation and grounding for not only African Americans but all of those in and from the African diaspora. It is a balm to counter the ill effects of homogenization, erasure, and assimilation. In Sit:com (sit/calm), a series of framed works in the style of movie posters and television show advertisements, Koyaki substitutes black television characters from such popular shows as Martin and A Different World with iconic national and global leaders including Martin Luther King, Jr. among others, situating them not merely in an historical context of heroism but paying homage to their lasting impact and sacrifices in the present and fraught political and social climate. See a Body is a short film that sources a variety of cinematic scenes that recontextualize Black bodily and mental harm inflicted on the subjects. By replacing the Black characters’ moments of trauma with ones of healing, joy, and leisure Kokayi imagines a new visual and aural landscape, punctuated by his soundscape of original compositions and found and remixed beats of varied musical forms. Climactic moments of Black physical and emotional violence (lynching and murder) are substituted with affirming and liberatory gestures creating new possibilities for their daily existence safe from white supremacy, racism, as well as intraracial fear, revenge, and hatred. Finally, a glossary of terms, visually comparing terms found in various lyrics of Billboard Top 100 singles, provide commentary on the fraught relationship to certain words and phrases prolific in Black American culture.
About Kokayi:
Kokayi, a multidisciplinary artist. producer, Grammy-nominated musician, preeminent improvisational vocalist, educator, storyteller, connector of dots, chief ideator and co-curator of BeatsnBeans: a cultural design project examining the intersections of creativity, coffee culture, and the re-imagining of creative spaces. He has performed in over 42 countries utilizing hip-hop culture as a tool for diplomacy, education, and catalyst in fostering cultural exchange. "My work is an amalgamation of my life experiences as filtered through; DC, Go-go and the music begat from the African diaspora."
Kokayi has been faculty at the School of Improvisational Music teaching vocal improvisation as it relates to Jazz and Hip Hop, collaborator with the international arts program OneBeat, and a freelance music emissary with the U.S. State Department. DCCAH Artist Fellowship and Sister Cities grant recipient and has served as Artist in Residence for Music Meeting in Nijmegen, NL. Kokayi considers himself an emcee and performer first, no matter the medium, he allows his love for the lexicon of artistic language to control the narrative of creating and his love for the catharsis of performance to captivate his audiences across the globe. Halcyon Arts Lab Fellow (HUBRI$), Creative DSGN for projects with Grammy-nominated artist Goldink and artist/musician Guillermo Brown.
Kokayi continues his art practice with the 18x24 photography project and musical work with Ambrose Akinmusire, Teri Lynne Carrington + Social Science (NPR Tiny desk), Whose Hat is This?, Ego Mondo, and MacArthur recipients Dafnis Prieto and Steve Coleman, respectively. He has been a TEDxWDC presenter, speaking on “collaboration and the creative economy,” and has taught university-level classes on vocal improvisation at Monash (Melbourne, AU), Universidade Lusíada (Lisbon, PT), Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, and San Francisco State.
During his residency at The Nicholson Project, Kokayi worked with The Nicholson Project’s Guest Curator, Jarvis DuBois. Jarvis is an independent curator and has been a Museum Specialist at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History since 2002.