Opening Reception Olaniyi Akindiya (Akirash), Katy Heinlein, Kristen Cochran, Marcelyn McNeil, Antonius Bui, and Ryan Hawk

Olaniyi Akindiya (Akirash)
Ara Oru Kinkin (Masquerades Mythology)
John M. O’Quinn Gallery

The Egungun Masquerade festival is celebrated by adherents of the traditional religion in Southwest Nigeria, who believe that their ancestors reincarnate and pay them regular visits to bless them. The yearly festival is marked with pomp and pageantry. Egungun, as the ancestors are called, come decked in colorful costume, accompanied by loud drumbeats and song and speak in guttural voices to give the impression that they are not ordinary beings.

This project involves the creation of masquerade costumes and masks from traditional materials, incorporating symbols and patterns from cultures around the world including, but not limited to, Ghana (Adinkran), Nigeria (Uli, Arewa), South Africa (Ndebele), Cameroon (Bamuleke), Australia (Aboriginal), New Zealand (Mauri), and New Mexico (Pueblo).

For more information, click here.

Katy Heinlein, Kristen Cochran, Marcelyn McNeil
Fold In
Cecily E. Horton Gallery

Fold In, organized by Katy Heinlein, brings three Texas-based artists together: Kristen Cochran of Dallas, and Katy Heinlein and Marcelyn McNeil of Houston, who have never before exhibited together. Cochran, Heinlein, and McNeil share an affinity for quiet, coyly emoting, almost non-objective abstraction. One essential tool is shared in the creation of their work: scissors. Each artist has a unique way of folding, cutting, pattern-making, zhooshing, and piecing together.

For more information, click here.

Antonius Bui
yêu em dài lâu (me love you long time)
Grace R. Cavnar Gallery

yêu em dài lâu (me love you long time) is a new series of life-size, hand-cut paper portraits that celebrate Queer AAPIs (Asian American Pacific Islanders) in the artist’s life.

For more information, click here.

Ryan Hawk
Sweet Surrender
Project Space Gallery

Sweet Surrender, an exhibition of new work by artist Ryan Hawk, scrutinizes traditional representations of masculinity and power through narratives of horror, tragedy, and humor. Combining moving image and sculptural installation with silicone-based FX prosthesis, Hawk confronts issues of corporeality, embodiment, and representational objectification. This project expands Hawk’s ongoing artistic research into alterity and subjecthood in relation to the dominant cultural imagination.

For more information, click here.