On Saturday, January 18th, curator Monique Long will join 2023 – 2025 Artist in Residence Azikiwe Mohammed for a discussion about his current exhibition, Trains, Buses and The Four C’s.

For those who haven’t had a chance to see the show, doors will open at 1 PM, with the talk scheduled from 2 PM to 3 PM. Everyone in the area is invited to stay for lunch from 3 PM to 4 PM, featuring hot food courtesy of Leroy’s Luncheon, along with a selection of fresh food and pantry staples available for guests to take home.

Guests are encouraged to bring clean, lightly used jackets to share with those in need.

In the new body of work created in the past year for Trains, Buses, and the Four C’s – social bonds and experiences are evoked in mixed-media drawings, photographs, paintings and sculptures. While their subjects emerge from personal memories – some Mohammed’s, and many sourced from others – the compositions, colors, and ideas simultaneously reference and electrify the tradition of history painting. Conventionally, history paintings glorify canonical subjects, which are then revivified through the styles and movements of the painter’s day and by the ideas and approaches of the artist. For Mohammed, they represent “new beginnings” to old stories; by layering complex washes of paint and adapting historical compositions to beautifully render everyday subjects, Mohammed calls attention to the pervading tropes, characters, biases, and narratives of our day – some beloved, and others tired and ready for history’s dustbin.