We are pleased to announce the first two-person show by Los Angeles-based artists Rakeem Cunningham and Ramon Espinosa. New photographic works and installation by Rakeem Cunningham and mixed media works on paper by Ramon Espinosa are going to be exhibited in TAG Gallery’s loft space.
Rakeem Cunningham was given the loft space for two weeks for an open plan project, without any restrictions from the gallery higher-ups. He then invited Ramon Espinosa to plan a project with him. The result is a show that is a direct reaction to how people view art, and how people interact with bodies within this space, specifically with queer non-white bodies. Cunningham will be showing odalisque type of self-portraitures that relate to queer Black experiences while Espinosa will be showing works on paper that demand interpretation while mirroring his own struggle with the questions of interpretation.
The video clip of Nene Leakes walking through the streets of Atlanta while saying “Whew chile! The ghetto!” has been meme-ified, and has become a collective sentiment and standard meme response of younger generation of POCs. The exhibition adopted Leakes’ reaction to Atlanta’s ghetto to convey the frustration of being queer POC in the Art/art world – the ghettoization of queer black and brown bodies in these institutions, and the rest of the world.
Rakeem Cunningham studied at UCLA for Design and Media Arts and has shown in Castelli Art Space, The South Bay LGBT Center, and The Los Angeles LGBT Center in Los Angeles, California, and in Littman and White Galleries in Portland, Oregon. Ramon Espinosa has participated in group shows in the Pete and Susan Barrett Gallery in Santa Monica, LA Art Share in Los Angeles, and in Trunk Gallery in Venice, California
Sept 18 - Sept 30, 2018
Opening Reception: Sept 20
5458 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Email: rakeemc@gmail.com