Art made of “trash” is a concept that has both political and social meaning in Material Memory. As the product of Olanrewaju (Lanre) Tejuoso’s time at The Village of Arts and Humanity’s SPACES residency, Material Memory represents several firsts for the organization. It is first time a SPACES artist’s residency has aimed to provide an intangible (rather than concrete) social impact, and the first one that has resulted in an exhibition.
Read MoreLanré, who is Yoruba, works with recycled materials and his art communicates a message about our fragile globe being overwhelmed by waste. His sculptures are labor intensive, and here in Philadelphia he worked with North Philadelphia community members in “sewing circles” to fabricate the individual components (he refers to them as “bricks” to build a skyscraper) that will go into his big new sculpture, which debuts on Friday. The piece is a memorial to loss, which is experienced in a personal way by all.
Read MoreAfter a nine-month residency at the SPACES program at the Village of Arts and Humanities, two international artists, Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh, who is from Ghana, and Olanrewaju (Lanré) Tejuoso, who is from Nigeria, are preparing for their projects’ culminating exhibition and Open Mic session, this Friday, Dec. 9, 6PM – 10 PM.
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