AZIKIWE MOHAMMED, A Place To Sit With Magnolias

July 22-August 30, 2020

ASPEN INTERSECT July 22-26

Elijah Wheat Showroom is enchanted to present Azikiwe Mohammed with an installation entitled A Place To Sit With Magnolias in conjunction with Strongroom’s presentation of New Davonhaime Flag in Newburgh, NY. On view beginning July 22nd, 2020 thru August 30, 2020.  EWS is also part of Intersect Aspen, an online art fair from July 22 through July 26th with this solo exhibition.

The exhibition’s mission strives to invite viewers into a place—in the shade under a magnolia tree—a momentary respite from the societal strife at the core of America yet, recently amplified due to COVID19. Using the eldest flowering trees of Earth’s Pangea native to the American South, in a creation true to Azikiwe’s pursuit of inclusion, service and creating spaces that “mirror the safety you wish you had” this shielded space empowers the participant while uplifting the symbolic Blackness amidst the call to action for racial justice in the United States. 

With walls painted a magnolia color, the white vanishes from a typical gallery presentation. Plant life, furniture, neons and sound immerse the visitor beyond the maker’s luscious paintings. Details of lasagna, Mad Dog 20/20, oranges, and more plant life become a sacred respite from daily realities. Individuals or groups up to four are welcome to sojourn to the Hudson River town to partake in the installation. 

Further, the collaboration presents another feature outside the nomadic exhibition space to reflect the second flight of Azikiwe’s New Davonhaime Flag and includes the inaugural New Davonhaime Food Bank as part of Strongroom, a non-profit arts organization producing site-specific contemporary art installations and related public programs in Newburgh, NY. 

New Davonhaime, is a place which Mohammed established in 2015 as a safe space for Black communities in the United States to thrive and exist. Taking its name from the five American cities with the highest density of Black residents — New Orleans, Louisiana; Detroit, Michigan; Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; and Savannah, Georgia. 

Azikiwe shares: “Depicted on the New Davonhaime Flag are symbolic colors: The red black and green comes from the Black Liberation flag (red for the blood, Black for the people and green for the land), the blue is the water that runs thru the people in equal parts to that which runs thru the earth and the yellow is the new land we form as a shield. The yellow is in the shape of a shield because the land protects the people. The primary colors all touch each other as to build our home we must come first, and from our roots shall all other things grow.” 

Please join us for an artist talk on Noon Saturday, July 25th at 1 Liberty Street School, Newburgh NY 12550. Immediately after: Outdoor Opening reception on the Hudson River and 30 minute installation visits from 2PM-7PM at Elijah Wheat Showroom, 195 Front Street, Newburgh, NY, 12550.  

Azikiwe Mohammed’s artwork has been shown in galleries both nationally and internationally. A 2005 graduate of Bard College, where he studied photography and fine arts, Mohammed received the Art Matters Grant in 2015 and the Rema Hort Mann Emerging Artist Grant in 2016.

He is an alumnus of Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, New York, and Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, New Jersey. His work has been featured extensively in magazines, including VICE, I-D, Artforum, Forbes, BOMB and Hyperallergic. Mohammed has presented a number of solo exhibitions in venues including the Knockdown Center, Maspeth, New York; SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA; Ace Hotel Chicago, Illinois; IDIO Gallery, Brooklyn, New York; Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL and Anna Zorina Gallery, New York, NY; as well as multiple solo offerings at Spring Break Art Show, New York. He has participated in group exhibitions at MoMa PS1, Queens, New York; Antenna Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana; Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, California and the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, among others. He lives in New York and currently has his studio at Mana Contemporary.

Formed in 2016, by Kelly Schroer, Strongroom installations take place in temporary sites in the City of Newburgh, focusing primarily on solo installations in spaces that aim to activate both architecture and artwork, while providing quality art experiences for both the local community and visitors.