Curated by Anthony Allen and Claire Tancons

In his first solo exhibition, artist Ralph Lemon, a renowned choreographer and dancer, presents drawings, paintings, and video works exploring a cultural history and proposed future of the American South. Revolving around Lemon’s long-standing collaborative relationship with Walter Carter, a 99-year old former sharecropper from Yazoo City, Mississippi, the works in the exhibition are connected by a complex personal iconography made up of references to the writer James Baldwin, conceptual artist Bruce Nauman, historical figures from the Civil Rights Movement, as well as twentieth century icons of American jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel music. The central figure of Walter ties these threads together, raising questions about memory, memorialization, and transcendence.