The NXTHVN exhibition will take place at Sean Kelly Gallery, 475 Tenth Avenue, New York, NY 10018, from June 10 – to August 5, 2022.
NXTHVN is an arts incubator and creative community in Dixwell. They are a groundbreaking institution that combines the best of arts and entrepreneurship. Through access, education, programming, and impact investing, NXTHVN’s purpose is to launch the careers of artists and curators that strengthen the livelihood of its local community.
Located in the historically African-American Dixwell neighborhood of New Haven, CT, the expansive adapted-reuse campus houses a gallery, studio, office, performance, and living spaces. Cornerstone programs include a renowned fellowship to educate and accelerate emerging and underrepresented artists, paid arts apprenticeships for local teens, and business incubation to nurture cultural and capital value in the neighborhood.
Co-founded in 2018 by acclaimed visual artist Titus Kaphar and private equity investor Jason Price – both longtime residents of New Haven – NXTHVN represents a new national arts model for developing an equitable society.
Today Sean Kelly and NXTHVN are delighted to present Undercurrents, a group exhibition that explores the nuanced relationship between materiality, human longing, and collective memory.
This culminating exhibition will feature artists from NXTHVN’s Cohort 03 Fellowship Program; Layo Bright, John Guzman, Alyssa Klauer, Africanus Okokon, Patrick Quarm, Daniel Ramos, and Warith Taha; it is organized by Curatorial Fellows Marissa Del Toro and Jamillah Hinson.
Featuring a range of media, including painting, sculpture, video, and photography, the Cohort 03 artists reveal the current undercurrents of poignant topics within the contemporary moment, including investigations of familial legacies and lineages, cultural hybridity, and collective memory shape personal experience.
By examining their material processes, Undercurrents presents notions surrounding transformation and the many ways human longing manifests. Using ubiquitous materials alongside experimental techniques, the artist’s layer and mold their media to give visibility to nuanced, depth-filled narratives.
The exhibition positions the artists in intimate conversation with one another while examining the intricacy and range of their practices.