Inman Gallery is pleased to present Jamal Cyrus: Currents and Currencies. Opening with a public reception on Friday, November 8, from 6:00-8:00pm, the exhibition will be on view through January 4, 2020.
In the spring of 2018, Jamal Cyrus was awarded a travel grant sponsored by BMW (the BMW Art Journey), which presents awarded artists with the opportunity to create a journey designed to transform their approach to art-making. During his travels in the summer of 2018, Cyrus sought to learn about the influence that migration and displacement have had on the expressive practices within the African Diaspora. This 45-day trip took him to four continents, seven countries, twelve cities and left him with a set of experiences and a repository of information he will be unpacking for years to come.
Cyrus' first exhibition since his journey, Currents and Currencies is based on the exchange of commerce and ideas that has occurred between the cultures of the Atlantic rim for centuries. Cyrus' thought process began with the flow of ocean currents such as the North and South Equatorial Currents. These "rivers" within our oceans make travel between continents, such as Africa and South America, natural, organic, and even inevitable. Highlighting the international reach of Black cultural forms and their global influences, the works in the exhibition sometimes take unexpected turns and involve new interactions that we may not anticipate but are connected by Cyrus' experiences and desire to map the illusive domains of history and creative expression.
