April Bey – Made in Space
A Solo Show
Band of Vices Art Gallery
On Saturday, May 12th, Terrell Tilford will be opening the flagship Band of Vices Art Gallery, located at 5376 W. Adams Blvd. in the burgeoning West Adams (Arts) District. Band of Vices will be the newest addition to recent developments and new restaurants coming into the area. Tilford is honored to continue the artistic commitment originally set forth by the previous tenants, Gallery 38. After undergoing an extensive renovation, Band of Vices Art Gallery will open its doors with a solo exhibition by contemporary artist April Bey entitled Made in Space.
Phuck Your Protocol (Chewing Gum)
Made in Space is the brand or label we see on clothing and space helmets used by gender fluid universe travelers focused on anti-colonizing adventures.
Made in Space includes works from the AfroFuturist Womanism series, which explores female afrofuturistic millennial entrepreneurialism via social media and the Internet. Blerdy in nature, juxtapositions of Star Trek and hip-hop culture also manifest in this series. Looking to the future acts as a therapeutic excretory practice in dealing with current day issues around race and discrimination globally.
This work is a focus but is part of a generalized exploration of the actual resilience of women as they navigate through high-impact experiences of the body, psyche and demands of womanhood. There’s an ironic hypocrisy in the expectations of women and specifically black women to be sovereign and robust while at the same time inept and emotionally weak/unpredictable when leadership roles are sought.
Made in Space occupies the space often taken and exploited offering up fictitious worlds where labels are non-existent and we are allowed to float within our self-defined identities—smoking cigarettes in 0 gravity.
By the Grace of The Grand Nagus
Bey’s most recent solo exhibition Comply occurred at Coagula Curatorial in 2017. She is in the permanent collection of The California African American Museum, The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas and Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas. Bey has exhibited internationally in both biennials NE7 and NE8 in The Bahamas, Italy, Spain and Accra, Ghana.
April grew up in the Caribbean (Nassau, Bahamas) and now resides and works in Los Angeles, CA as a contemporary visual artist and art educator. Bey’s interdisciplinary art work is an introspective and social critique of American and Bahamian popular culture, immigration, contemporary pop culture feminism, generational theory, social media, AfroFuturism and race.
The Opening & Artist Reception for April Bey’s solo exhibition will take place Saturday, the 12th of May 2018, from 6pm – midnite. The artist will also present a walk-thru and talk on Saturday, the 2nd of June 2018, from 4pm – 6pm. Curated by Terrell Tilford, Made in Space marks April’s first exhibition with Band of Vices Art Gallery.
Gallery hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 12pm – 5pm. Outside hours will be available By Appointment Only.
Tilford, a native Angelino, is also a professional actor who has been seen on various television series and classical theater stages. This is his second contemporary art gallery in Los Angeles, after rebranding Tilford Art Group (1999-2010) into Band of Vices in 2015.
