Change Makers, a curated showcase of new print works by gallery artists Carolyn Mazloomi, Stan Squirewell, Gio Swaby, Moridja Kitenge Banza, and the gallery debut for artist Sameer Farooq. This dynamic exhibition spotlights a variety of printmaking techniques underscoring complex themes of identity, and cultural and political histories. Change Makers both directly and elliptically questions dominant narratives in popular culture on beauty, history, and heritage as well as within the deeper epistemological underpinnings of art history itself. Change Makers traverses Swaby’s multimedia exploration of Black femininity through portraiture, Squirewell’s assemblages of historical photographs teeming with imagined identities and deeply symbolic patterns, Mazloomi’s historical narrative quilts, Banza’s reappropriation of religious and cultural iconography and Farooq’s often tactile multi-media repositioning of cultural histories. For many gallery artists materiality is central to their work, making this a first foray into a new medium with exciting results.
“I am thrilled to present our first ever print-focused exhibition by the gallery’s incredible roster of artists,” states Claire Oliver. “I’ve long been a collector and admirer of prints, so this has been an exhibition I’ve wanted to organize for some time. It's been incredible to see how our diverse artists, who work across media including collage and textile, approach this new medium with creativity and innovation.”