Exhibition

Speak Out! The Historical Self

by pinknoiseprojects

Carlos Nuñez and Mikel Elam

October 2 to October 30, 2020
Opening Reception (Virtual): Friday October 2, 7:00 – 9:00pm
Artist Talk on Tuesday, October 27 from 7:00pm – 8:00pm.

View images and a video of the exhibition HERE

Download the exhibition essay “American Stories: Re-membering History, Re-imagining Mythos” by Li Sumpter HERE

Pink Noise Projects presents Speak Out! The Historical Self, a duel exhibition with Philadelphia based artists Carlos Nuñez and Mikel Elam. Both artists reach deeply into the history of American racial injustice and raise both a mirror and a fist to our present culture. The paintings and collages in this exhibition pulsate with visual responses to the past, elevating the power of color and form to resist, call out, and reveal truths. “The historical self”, a term used by poet Claudia Rankine in her 2014 book Citizen, refers to the way that history reveals itself through interactions between individual people who may be compatible as friends until, under pressure, are shaken “with the full force of (our) American positioning” by the sudden appearance of the historical self. 

Nuñez, born in Ecuador and raised in the U.S., critiques the corporate agribusiness drive for profits, ruthlessly commodifying Latin American workers in a system that trades humanity for dollars. Elam, who is African American and traces his family to Haiti, directly addresses such issues as the enslavement of Africans, Jim Crow minstrel shows, and double identity.  

This exhibition is curated by Pink Noise Projects member Daniel Oliva and will be installed in the gallery. With an exhibition essay by Li Sumpter, Founder and Director of MythMedia Studios. Please stay tuned for upcoming virtual events related to the exhibition.

View Carlos Nuñez’s work here: http://www.carlosnunezart.com
View Mikel Elam’s work here: https://mikel-elam.format.com

View images and a video of the exhibition HERE

Pink Noise Projects is open to the public Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00pm-4:00pm. Please wear a mask and follow social distancing guidelines.