Adewale Alli – Popscure

The human experience is one filled with irony. Those first moments of existence, we are seen as pure but deemed born into sin. We’re taught from a very young age that we’re all uniquely unique, but are then carefully crafted to be the same as the next. Before you know it, you’re living the same life as the one before, living someone else’s “truth.”

Artist Adewale Alli knows this all too well, and through his art, offers a chance…an escape from the imposed sociological sanctions of society. With his trademark “red eyes” and color-centric pieces, the Baltimore artist invokes an unsettling sense of urgency in introspection. His work beckons the viewer to reach into their subconscious and acknowledge the things buried deep.

Take a peek at the conversation I had with the CAN First Patron artist below as we talk about his evolving relationship with color, his inspirations, and his favorite set from the Black Spirituals installation.

What led you to adopting art as a career and lifestyle?

That is a long story!!!! Let’s just say it became an overwhelming passion I could not ignore, and it’s in my blood.

What medium do you find yourself working with most? Is there a medium that you would like to incorporate more into your future works?

These days I’ve been working with polyurethane. It’s a very interesting medium. I get to play with form and texture, [and] it really feels like I’m creating, not just painting. I would love to incorporate fire. I’m a pyromaniac; I have this crazy obsession with creating fire. I believe fire is a very misunderstood element.

How does your creative process begin?

It alway begins with a dream. Dreams are weird because they are our brain’s way of telling us secrets we withhold from ourselves when we’re awake. I like that I can steal those secrets and stories and turn them into something I can show the world. So I wake up, jot down what I can remember, and set out to share it with the world the only way I know how.

“Who” or “What” is inspiring you the most these days?

For who, I have three people that inspire me: ASA [Jackson], Anselm Kiefer, and Bram Bogart. And for what, I believe that would be my progressive understanding of the cosmos as it is, not as it is described.

There is a clear shift from your past works to your more recent works, specifically with the implementation of color. What was the catalyst behind that change?

I have always wanted to explore with color, but I’ve always been afraid of it, so I wanted to challenge myself. I believe that my relationship with color has evolved over time and is still far from being complete. Previously (depending on when you began following my work), my use of color was juvenile, bleaker, and more focused on form.

Now, I am realizing that color is not a tool but a language artists and non-artists alike use to convey meaning and messages to the masses. I found myself immersing deeply in the way humans use color to communicate, from artificial uses like the red in stop signs to instinctual uses like the red in blood…both meant to warn people. The study of color, and all of its uses, helps me to learn and create anew.

I’ve recognized shifting red eyes to be a staple in a lot of your paintings. Is there an underlying significance there?

The quintessential red eyes! Those have meant so many things to me over the years I first adopted them. I don’t think I could tell you what they mean to me now, but I can tell you the feelings they elicit in my audience and why I like them.

I’ve been told that the red eyes make people uneasy, wary, suspicious, and conscious of their surroundings. I’ve also been told that they cause people to look at their surroundings then into themselves to see if they’re missing something important. I feel all those feelings every day: doubt, concern, and curiosity. I like that the meaning (no matter how arbitrary it may be) can be conveyed to the audience in so many interpretations.

Do you have a favorite set from the installation?

The Red Room!!!!! The energy in that room is unbelievably intense, and I love it!! It is also my favorite color to look at.

What is the biggest thing you hope for viewers to take out of Black Spirituals?

I want people to leave this installation feeling the same way I felt, pure awe. Artists put a lot of their life into making pieces and telling stories. We do it for the artistry and love for it…sure, but also for the validation from our audience.

I want the people that go in and come out to feel like they found a piece of themselves in there that they never knew they were missing. I want them to feel even more connected or embedded in the human experience and be thankful for that.

Image courtesy of **@contemporaryartsnetwork**

Featured image (“Born Of The Sun”) is courtesy of Adewale Alli

There are still a couple of dates left for Black Spirituals. Be sure to get your tickets here!

Embark on a one-of-a-kind expedition through time to Slawstrips Kalb–“a hyper-satiric alternate reality” where the audience is subject to the “Black American life” by way of four teenagers working through the challenges brought on by “the choices they make and temptations they follow.” Written, composed, and directed by the Newport News Contemporary Arts Network’s (CAN) Tunny Crew, Black Spirituals is a “retelling” of the black individual’s story “from a place of empowerment.” The art installation will debut this Saturday, January 23rd at the Newport News CAN HQ, and will run on each consecutive Saturday for the entirety of Black History Month (visitors may also purchase tickets to tour the exhibit on Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout the month of February). Purchase your tickets here and read up on Popscure member Jasmine’s pre-debut thoughts on Black Spirituals below!

There was a general route I would take during my daily commute from the James River Bridge to the far ends of Newport News. Every day I would pass through this monochromatic route of grays and browns—heightened especially on gloomy days. And each day, I would scan the surrounding buildings…my mind always on autopilot mode. That is…until I saw a building I’d seen a million times, but this time things were different. This time the building had character…presence. Funnily enough, the building’s side was painted in a pattern of black and white—yet, it was as if it was saying, “Look at me!” As time passed, more murals were added to the lone building, ultimately creating a beacon of life amidst the lifeless stretch of road—signifying the possibility of what could be, of what can be.

Little did I know that I would be in that same building (many) months later taking in before me a vast set-up for an art installation—Black Spirituals. But just limiting it to the description of “art installation” almost doesn’t seem to do Black Spirituals, or its vision, justice. Deemed “an emancipated Negro Spiritual,” the experience is a stimulating amalgamation of mixed media creating an alternate reality as expansive as its goals to produce dialogue and education through topics ranging from mental health surrounding grief and loss, police brutality, racism in America, the drug epidemic, familial dysfunction, and exploitation within industries. With works from the CAN Foundation’s First Patron artists (Mahari Chabwera, Nastassja Swift, Asa Jackson, Hampton Boyer, and Adewale Alli) and CAN artists (Dathan Kane and Alex Michael), the collaborative venture bypasses traditional limitations in favor for delivering its message through a play and exhibition, original motion picture, and album. And really, I think that is the underlying beauty of Black Spirituals.

The topics in and of itself are undoubtedly important and way past overdue for discussion, but the true gem of Black Spirituals lies in the possibility…the possibilities. To me, the reclamation that is Black Spirituals transcends past its initial purpose to educate and furthermore invites you to imagine…to manifest…to change…to reclaim. The black narrative has been tainted throughout all aspects of life in history with black people being consistently portrayed as lesser than…lazy…sexual deviants or violent criminals—all damning qualities consciously and subconsciously taken without any further thought. You see it in the way the media portrays black individuals after the umpteenth fatal death by a police officer’s hand, or the way young black girls are seen and treated as sexual beings before they’re even able to comprehend what that even means. No one ever seems to ask about the “how’s” or “why’s” of social disparities as it relates to poverty and welfare, lack of education, drug abuse, or the most favored red herring of debate—“black-on-black” crime. How do you think a young child would feel if they were constantly inundated with such toxic preconceptions before knowing what that word even meant? Black Spirituals reclaims the black narrative, reimagines the story, and reveals the possibilities. Black Spirituals is the reclamation of identity…sense of self-worth…sense of purpose…sense of belonging. Black Spirituals is the possibility of what could be, of what can be.

All featured images courtesy of Nathan Croslin, Nalan Smartt, and Chip Jackson

Black Spirituals will debut tomorrow and run from 7:00-10:00 PM. Can’t make it? Don’t worry—the installation will run throughout Black History Month every consecutive Saturday and be open for Wednesday and Thursday tours throughout February. Get your tickets and find out more information here, and be sure to stay tuned for more from Black Spirituals.

Tag: Adewale Alli

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