yétúndé ọlágbajú

July 31, 2022 thru

 August 21, 2022

HORIZON/you hold my shape is the first iteration of a large-scale video installation, performance, and sculpture series, as conceived by yétúndé ọlágbajú. On view at SOMArts July 31–August 21, this solo exhibition features beautifully vignetted videos, Black devotion, and ritual movement. In this in-between space of longing, Black creation, pleasure, and improvisation are woven together into an intergenerational narrative unbound by time or geography.

This exhibition includes family photographs and written words by the artist’s parents. ọlágbajú’s father is from Ilé-Ifẹ̀ where, according to Yoruba tradition, a Golden Chain was said to have dropped, leading to the creation of humans. By paralleling this Yoruba creation myth with their own family and self memory, the hopes and dreams of their parents, and their artistic practice, HORIZON/you hold my shape finds agency in creation and proclaims how, despite the world continuously attempting to break us, we will always find and see ourselves in each other.

Image courtesy of Jacob Cruz-Rine

About yétúndé ọlágbajú

yétúndé ọlágbajú is an artist, strategist, and educator currently residing in Oakland, CA. They utilize video, sculpture, photography, gesture, and performance as through-lines for inquiries regarding Black labor, legacy, and processes of healing. They are rooted in the need to understand history, the people that made it, the myths and realities surrounding them, and how their own identity is implicated in history’s timeline.

They have shown work and projects with the Oakland Museum of California, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, The New School, SOMArts Cultural Center, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, The DeYoung Museum, and more.

They hold an MFA from Mills College and are the recipient of the Svane Foundation award, the inaugural Nancy Cook Fellowship, the Jay Defeo award, and a Murphy Cadogan award. They are a member of multiple Black and Brown liberation-focused artist and worker-led collectives and are represented by pt. 2 Gallery.

 

Gallery Hours
Saturday–Sunday
12:00–2:00 PM, 2:30–5:00 PM

Thursday–Friday
3:00–5:00 PM, 5:30–7:30 PM

Exhibition documentation image courtesy of Rich Lomibao, 2022.

Virtual Gallery