The Twin Cities art scene this weekend deconstructs Black history with two art shows: one exhibiting distorted photographs of Black activists, and the other displaying childhood snapshots of a Black nonbinary artist. Meanwhile, at the University of Minnesota, students showcase their artistic endeavors, including stop-motion animations, paintings, and art installations.
Feeling inspired by the weekend’s art scene? Put your painting skills to the test at a karaoke sip and paint Saturday, featuring ’80s, ’90s, and trap music.
Photo exhibit challenges perceptions of African American history
Quarter Gallery is hosting “Black Mystery Month,” an exhibit by photographer Bill Gaskins, inviting viewers to engage with 30 blurry photographs of Black pioneers in African American history and white civil rights activists.
Each photograph challenges viewers to decipher the identities of the individuals. Plastic letters will be randomly arranged, spelling out the subject’s name in backward and scrambled text as viewers decode the text puzzles through a mirror or selfie mode on a phone camera to discover the activist.
In a guide to the show, Gaskins said the dominant idea of a cultural thinker in the 21st century “remains white and male in the popular imagination.” The unexpected form and interactive nature of the exhibit “playfully tests” those subconscious images and aims to “disrupt claims of a post-racial America.”
Gaskins’ photography explores representations of Black people in American culture and the role of hair and adornment in Black identity. Quarter Gallery will be hosting an artist talk with Gaskins at 12 p.m. Thursday, April 4.
Date: Friday, March 29 to Saturday, April 13
Time: Opening reception from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 30. Regular gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The gallery is locked to the public on Saturdays, with U-card access only. Call 612-624-7530 for entry.
Location: Regis Center for Art, 405 21st Ave. S., Minneapolis.
Cost: Free
For more information: Visit cla.umn.edu/art/galleries-public-programs/quarter-gallery.
Multimedia show celebrates student talent
In a second show on campus at the University of Minnesota, the Katherine E. Nash Gallery is hosting “Delta Passage,” a thesis exhibition featuring the works of U students and soon-to-be graduates Namir Fearce, Whalen Polikoff, and Calvin Stalvig. The show explores the concept of a delta where rivers split into multiple channels before merging into a larger body of water, symbolizing transition and convergence.
Fearce’s stop- motion animations, sculpture, and photographs will explore Black Indigenous histories. Polikoff’s large-scale acrylic paintings and video projections critique the consequences of state-sanctioned violence and conservative nationalism. Stalvig transforms everyday items into unconventional art installations.
Date: Friday, March 29 to Saturday, April 13.
Time: Public program and opening reception from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, March 30. Regular gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The gallery is locked to the public on Saturdays, with U-card access only. Call 612-624-7530 for entry.
Location: Regis Center for Art, 405 21st Ave. S., Minneapolis.
Cost: Free
For more information: Visit cla.umn.edu/art/galleries-public-programs/katherine-e-nash-gallery
Artist transforms childhood photographs
Catch the last weekend of “I Pray my Soul is Still Eternal,” a solo exhibit by Black nonbinary artist Maiya Lea Hartman, exploring the interplay of childhood memories, perception, and truth through 2D and 3D paintings, drawings, digital collages, and sculptures.
The exhibit, hosted at Hair and Nails gallery, showcases family photographs of people and places significant in Hartman’s life. Drawing inspiration from childhood scrapbooking, the finished work integrates acrylic, oil, airbrush, synthetic braiding hair, rhinestones, and buttons.
Through the use of digital collaging and filtering techniques projected onto 2D and 3D surfaces, Hartman manipulates the appearance of the photographs to become distorted, adorned, or magnified. These alterations mirror Hartman’s experience of memory, where once-familiar elements take on an unfamiliar guise. Amid the distortion, the artist’s photographs serve as monuments immortalizing past iterations of self.
“I am hoping that folks are able to be transported through the work to a time and place that brings them comfort and familiarity,” Hartman said.
Date: Friday, March 29 to Sunday, March 31
Time: Artist conversation at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Regular gallery hours are 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
Location: Hair and Nails, 2222½ E. 35th St., Minneapolis
Cost: Free
For more information: Visit hairandnailsart.com.
Art party: Sip, sing and paint
Indigenous Roots will host a karaoke sip and paint event, featuring music from the ’80s, ’90s, and trap genres. The event, which also includes raffles and card games, aims to provide adults with a space to unwind and relieve stress, said artist Jaali Griffin.
Griffin will guide participants through the painting process, sharing blending techniques to achieve diverse gradients and offering a space for painters of all skill levels to step out of their comfort zones.
Date: Saturday, March 30.
Time: 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Location: Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center, 788 E. 7th St., St. Paul
Cost: $50, including canvas paint kit and drinks. Call 612-226-7171. Tickets will not be sold at the door. For more information: Visit instagram.com/indigeroots.
