Throughout his career, Felandus Thames’s work has been imbued with the tropes of masculinity historically bound up with the corporeal “Black Body,” engaging materials as surrogates or vessels to communicate unsettling truths. Thames’s material choices are intentionally harvested from the inner city and often associated with the African Diaspora.

This exhibition will see an expansion of these choices as he explores ideas around memory, trauma, joy, Black language, and surveillance.

“We shed oceans of tears, our waters contain our sorrows” is a quote from Elizabeth Alexander’s 2022 British Art Center lecture, “The Trayvon Generation.” Thames feels this passage chose him for his preoccupation with trauma. He draws on the inherent pessimism embedded in Alexander’s prose to help shape the conceptual underpinnings for his current body of work.

It is imperative to view his work outside of the realm of activism, but rather see him as a witness, utilizing history as a backdrop to find echoes in the current moment.

Opening reception will be held April 5.