Inspired by scholar Kevin Quashie’s recent book, Black Aliveness, or a Poetics of Being, Express Newark's year-long programming of art installations, immersive films, public lectures, and community classes, reflects how the concept of Aliveness can be an innovative and timely exploration of contemporary art, racial freedom, and environmental justice. On Thursday, February 2nd, as part
"Humanities Action Lab Hosts 2023 National Convening: "Communities Joining Forces" to Address Climate Crisis The Humanities Action Lab is calling upon organizers, scholars, and students from ten communities at the forefront of the climate crisis to unite for the 2023 National Convening, themed "Communities Joining Forces." This event, scheduled for October 26, 2023, from
“Blues People has always meant a great deal to me. It was a dramatic self-confirmation, as a personal intellectual and artistic ‘presence,’ but also as the expression of a set of ideas and measures that I have carried with me for many years. Most, even until today.” —Amiri Baraka Inspired by the 60th anniversary of
Newark Master Plan & Street Views Cesar Melgar Born in Newark, Cesar Melgar presents twenty-five digital c-prints from his series “Newark Master Plan.” With the black-and-white photographs taken between 2018 and 2022, Melgar prompts viewers to consider the frequency of Notice of Public Hearing Banners appearing on homes, commercial spaces, and landmarks throughout the city.
The Holdout II Derrick Adams With “The Holdout II,” Adams revisits a social sculpture that he initially debuted at Alijira: A Center for Contemporary Art in Newark in 2015. Now, using a house-like structure and the format of a pirate radio station, “The Holdout II” is hosted by Sister From Another Planet (Andrea Rose Clarke,
Who We Be Adama Delphine Fawundu Delphine Fawundu revisits her experimental video “Who We Be,” which follows performer James “Biggie Flighter” Benjamin Lewis, through Freetown, Sierra Leone, in West Africa. The film becomes a sonic collage blending verses, instrumentals, and speeches exploring the African Diaspora's linguistic diversity. Here, Fawundu also debuts the wallpaper “Who We
Occupying Wall Street & Covid Journals Accra Shepp Weaved throughout the main floor of Express Newark is Accra Shepp’s “Occupying Wall Street,” an installation that features nineteen black-and-white portraits from his documenting of New York City’s 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement. Using a large-format view camera, this was Shepp’s first foray into documentary photography. Here,
At the Bottom of the Atlantic Ocean There's a Railroad Made of Human Bones Adebunmi Gbadebo After losing her mother, Brenda Ravenell, to COVID-19 in 2020, Adebunmi Gbadebo traveled to the True Blue Plantation, where her ancestors were enslaved in Fort Motte, South Carolina. Connecting with her cousin, Jackie Whitmore, Gbadebo created a memorial for
Blues People has always meant a great deal to me. It was a dramatic self-confirmation, as a personal intellectual and artistic “presence,” but also as the expression of a set of ideas and measures that I have carried with me for many years. Most, even until today. –Amiri Baraka Inspired by the 60th anniversary of
Express Newark is pleased to celebrate its refreshed brand identity, highlighting Newark as a vanguard of art and activism. The new visual identity foregrounds a black-and-white palette that nods to our city’s past, while the bold type emphasizes our drive toward artistic experimentation and collaboration. The new brand system reflects our name: Express—a gathering place for
