Curated by Péjú Oshin, Rites of Passage features work by nineteen contemporary artists who share a history of migration. The exhibition explores the idea of “liminal space,” a coinage of anthropologist Arnold van Gennep who was among the first to observe that the transitional events of birth, puberty, marriage, and death are marked by ceremonies with a ritual function that transcends cultural boundaries. Rites of Passage is structured in correspondence with liminality’s three stages: separation, transition, and return, and examines the status of postcolonial Black identity, specifically the “triple consciousness” experienced by members of the African diaspora when encountering counterparts who identify with local majority populations.
Gagosian Gallery, London. Until 29 April 2023
Image:
Àsìkò, Pillars at the Port, 2022, giclée print on baryta paper, 63 × 42 1/8 inches (160 × 107 cm), edition of 5 + 2 AP © Àsìkò
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