June 22 - July 28, 2007
Opening Reception: Friday, June 22 / 6 to 9 PM
Solomon Projects is pleased to present Returnal, a dynamic collaboration
between Atlanta artist Radcliffe Bailey, LA-based choreographer
Fatima Robinson and Brooklyn-based musician Marc Anthony Thompson.
These three artists will synthesize their artistic practices
and points of view in a multi-media installation, inspired by
their recent journey together to Africa with the support of
the National Black Arts Festival. The exhibition will be on
view from June 22 - July 28, 2007 with an opening reception
with the artists present on Friday, June 22nd from 6-9 PM.
Returnal continues Bailey's exploration of African and
African-American themes within the larger context of travel
and discovery. A major assemblage sculpture, collaged works
on paper, altered vintage photographs, video projection and
sound will be featured in this site-specific installation. The
elements composing the installation are based on "The Door of
No Return" on Gorée Island in Senegal, where an estimated
20 million Africans passed between mid-1500s to mid-1800s during
the African slave trade. Returnal is presented in association
with the National Black Arts Festival and Clark Atlanta University
Art Galleries.
Bailey has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions at the
Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art, Jacksonville, FL (2006);
Clough-Hanson Gallery, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN (2005); New
Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT (2004); The
Cheekwood Museum of Art, Nashville, TN (2003); Museum of the
University of Houston, Houston, TX (2002); Atlanta College of
Art, Atlanta, GA; and The Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham,
AL (traveled to the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis,
MO) (2001). Among his many group exhibitions are Pitching
(with Alejandro Aguilera) at Emory University Visual Arts Gallery,
Atlanta, GA (2007); Black Panther Rank and File, Yerba
Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA (2006); The
Whole World is Rotten, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati,
OH (2006); Common Ground, Discovering Community in 150 Years
of Art, Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington, DC (2004); and
Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Aikulapo-Kuti,
The New Museum, New York, NY (traveled to Yerba Buena Center
for the Arts, San Francisco, CA) (2003-04). His work may be
found in numerous important public and private collections,
notably: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Birmingham Museum
of Art, Birmingham, AL; Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, NY and Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
DC.
Radcliffe Bailey lives and works in Atlanta, GA.