Be Alarmed: The Black Americana Epic, Movement I - The Visions
On view January 31 through March 15 at the Esther M Klein Art Gallery (3600 Market Street). Opening Reception January 31 from 5:00pm–7:30pm.
PHILADELPHIA – The Leeway Foundation and Breadboard present the culminating exhibit from their first Art+Technology Residency by artist Tiona McClodden (ATR ’12, LTA ’09, ACG ’07) entitled “Be Alarmed: The Black Americana Epic, Movement I - The Visions” opening January 31 at Esther Klein Gallery at the Science Center in University City (3600 Market Street). The exhibit closes March 15.
“The Visions” is the first in a four-part exhibition series, featuring short films and mixed media work. The overall narrative arc is revealed through sets of trailers, scenes, and scriptural artifacts showcased externally as film memorabilia, rooted in the greater Black American experience throughout history. Smoke, fireworks, and a series of light patterns are used throughout the films to represent cleansing, portals, and announcements.
“The Visions” introduces the protagonist, The Haint (portrayed by actress Danielle Deadwyler, a mute spirit who communicates through the use of film subtitles. Her primary communication is with The Heroine (McClodden). The Haint embodies emotional and physical characteristics of the maternal, paternal, and spiritual elements of McClodden’s personal and familial history. McClodden hopes to encourage the viewer to ‘fill in the blanks’ in regards to the larger narrative of the idea behind the work.
Tiona explains the concept behind her work: “It's all about standpoint and one's personal point of view of the world in an objective and subjective space, simultaneously. With my experimental series Be Alarmed I've created a conceptual film and visual art work rooted in my personal familial history, my current biography, and themes that may relate to the greater African American experience.”
“Be Alarmed: The Black Americana Epic, Movement I - The Visions” is on view from January 31 through March 15 with an opening reception on Friday, January 31 from 5:00-7:30pm at EKG (Esther Klein Gallery), 3600 Market Street, Ground Floor. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday 10:00am-5:00pm.
ABOUT TIONA MCCLODDEN
Tiona was born in 1981 in Blytheville, Arkansas. She is a filmmaker/artist. Tiona is a 2007 Leeway Art and Change Grantee and 2009 Leeway Transformation Awardee. She produces and distributes her work through her film imprint, Harriet's Gun Media, whose mission is to produce and distribute works of art across a range of media platforms that examine, explore, and critique issues at the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality. Themes explored in McClodden's films have been social change, social realism, re-memory and more recently biomythography. She has produced, written and directed a range of films examining the including her award winning feature-length documentary film, “black./womyn.: conversations with lesbians of African descent”, a short narrative film “Bumming Cigarettes”, and an experimental film portrait, “roots.|&|rigor”. featuring Philadelphia-based sculpture artist Lorna Williams.
ABOUT BREADBOARD
Breadboard is a hybrid program at the University City Science Center that facilitates cross-disciplinary art exhibits, community outreach initiatives, and special programs offering public access to a new generation of fabrication technology and workspace in an effort to empower individuals and convene communities around creative applications of technology. Through a unique partnership with NextFab Studio, Breadboard offers artists the opportunity to utilize high-tech equipment alongside engineers, hobbyists, and inventors.
ABOUT LEEWAY
The Leeway Foundation supports women and transgender artists and cultural producers working in communities at the intersection of art, culture, and social change. Through our grantmaking and other programs we promote artistic expression that amplifies the voices of those on the margins, promotes sustainable and healthy communities, and works in the service of movements for economic and social justice.
