OGR Torino
presents

ARTHUR JAFA
RHAMESJAFACOSEYJAFADRAYTON

In collaboration with Serpentine
Curated by Claude Adjil and Judith Waldmann with Hans Ulrich Obrist

OGR Cult | Binario 1

Until 12 February 2023, open from Thursday to Sunday, free admission

Thursday and Friday, from 6 to 10 pm
Saturday and Sunday, from 10 am to 8 pm

Free admission

On Thursday, January 19, 2023, the exhibition will close at 9 PM

OGR Torino presents RHAMESJAFACOSEYJAFADRAYTON, the first Italian solo show of the US-American artist and filmmaker Arthur Jafa, untill 12 February 2023.

Commissioned and produced by OGR Torino in collaboration with Serpentine in London, and curated by Claude Adjil and Judith Waldmann with Hans Ulrich Obrist, the upcoming show was originally developed with Amira Gad and is specifically conceived by the artist for the cathedral-like space of OGR Torino. The exhibition brings together some recent works that have never been shown in Italy before.

Arthur Jafa’s dynamic practice comprises films, installations and happenings, addressing Black culture and experience in the US with unprecedented intensity and complexity. In the 58^th Venice Biennale (2019), his outstanding work was awarded the Golden Lion for best presentation. A recurring question underscores his multifaceted practice: how can visual media and objects embody "power, beauty and alienation” embedded within Black music in the United States.Arthur Jafa’s dynamic practice comprises films, artefacts, and happenings, which tackle Black culture and experience in the US with unprecedented intensity and complexity. With a career spanning three decades, Arthur Jafa’s multidisciplinary works challenge and question prevailing cultural assumptions about identity and race through his immersive and experimental cinematic experiences. At the 58th Venice Biennale (2019), his outstanding work “The White Album”, featured in the central exhibition May You Live in Interesting Times, was awarded the Golden Lion for best presentation.
A recurring question underscores his multifaceted practice: how can visual media and objects transmit the equivalent "power, beauty, and alienation” that is embedded within Black music in the United States. An investigation also recalled by the title of the exhibition, which mentions the names of three electric guitar players: Arthur Rhames (1957-1989), Pete Cosey (1943-2012), Ronny Drayton (1953-2020).

The opening of RHAMESJAFACOSEYJAFADRAYTON has been accompanied by a musical performance that will engage with aspects of Arthur Jafa’s practice, in particular its relation to the music scene and cross-pollination of disciplines and fields. Convened by Arthur Jafa, American jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran, cellist and composer Okkyung Lee and bass guitarist Melvin Gibbs performed together in OGR’s Duomo.

 

 

Cover image:
Arthur Jafa
AGHDRA, 2021
Video Still
© Arthur Jafa, Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery

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