Please join us for the virtual opening of Transfiguration and enjoy a conversation with curator Julian C. Chambliss and artist Stacey Robinson, the unveiling of a work by artist Pedro Jermaine and a special live performance.

Since the debut of Marvel’s Black Panther (2018), the focus on Afrofuturism in the United States has skyrocketed. This focus, however, fails to fully understand the scope, complexity, and significance of Afrofuturism. As both a philosophy and an aesthetic, Afrofuturism embraces utopic spaces where equality can be valued and realized. Transfiguration spotlights how visual narrative at the heart of Afrofuturist practice is part of a longer Black speculative tradition. Black speculative thought works against anti-Blackness and imagines a space devoid of colonial frameworks and systemic racism.

Transfiguration takes up Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s observation that Black visions of freedom strive for a better future. The artists in this exhibition engage with the theme central to Dr. King’s legacy, offering visions of freedom across genre and circumstance. Featured artists include Nettrice Gaskins, Krista Franklin, and collectives Black Kirby and Intergalactic Soul.