In the Palaces Beneath the Sand, is a solo exhibition by multimedia conceptual artist Lorenzo Baker, Curated by Jasmine McNeal.
In the Palaces Beneath the Sand is a solo exhibition by Lorenzo Baker which explores different forms of light, and traces the visibility of Black spaces and their effects on universal truths.
Through installation, video, ready-made sculptures, and collage, the exhibition surveys the nuances between public and private space. Exploring different forms of light, and examining its use as a catalyst for transformational experiences, Lorenzo Baker’s art practice illuminates the social and political connotations embedded within everyday objects, materials, and images.
Recontextualizing representations of history and contemporary culture. Lorenzo Baker’s artworks draw on concepts of allusion and hybridity to highlight obscured aspects of culture. Addressing the impact language has on our perceptions of the past, and presenting viewers with future identity formations and alternative perspectives of the body that subvert our interactions with Black spaces, the artworks featured In the Palaces Beneath the Sand challenge our relationship to themes around site and location.
Conjuring alternate realities of possibility and existence, where the experience of Blackness (earthly and otherwise) can be created through a multitude of truths, Lorenzo Baker’s art practice illuminates how physical space generates experiences in culture, and in return, affects the construction of social and individual truths.
Tracing Blackness and its historical past, we learn that Black culture is not only immeasurable in a month, but exists in a continuum within the spaces we create every day.
What happens if February never ends?
Lorenzo Baker is a multimedia visual artist and graduate of Dillard University and Otis College of Art and Design. Working in sculpture, video, installation art, and collage.
In 2021, Lorenzo Baker was a guest speaker at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MOAD) In the Artist Studio Program, and in 2022 Lorenzo collaborated with The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on february a special project and installation underscoring the connections between technology and Black History.
In 2023, Lorenzo was an inaugural member of The Ellsworth Artist Residency program at Art Share LA, and in 2023- 2024 Lorenzo Baker was selected to participate in The Quinn Emanuel LLP Los Angeles Artist-in-Residence program.
Jasmine McNeal is a guest curator at Golden West College and is an independent curator who has been based in Los Angeles since 2016. Her curatorial practice focuses on the many aspects of Black identity and Black spirituality. She earned her BA in World Arts and Cultures from UCLA and her MA in Cultural Studies from KU Leuven in Belgium. She has curated exhibitions locally and abroad, including Ghana and Belgium. She has conducted talks on the representation of Blackness in contemporary art at institutions such as Pepperdine, Biola, and LMU. She is currently a professor of Museum Studies and Visual Culture at Fullerton College.
Presented by Golden West College
In the Palaces Beneath the Sand February 1st - February 29th 2024
If it's magic then why can't we make it everlasting, 2024, inkjet print, artist frame, 32 x 24 inches
light drawing #1, 2022, video, 00:02:07 mins
tuxedo, 2022, bundle of locs, 7 x 1.5 x 3.5 inches
portrait of the artist #3, 2024, photograph, artist frame, 37 x 50 inches
let it all hang out, 2024, inkjet print, artist frame, 32 x 24 inches
brown baggin’ it, 2024, photograph, artist frame, 44 x 60 inches
guess who’s coming to dinner, 2024, inkjet print, artist frame, 28 x 22 inches
rough house, 2024, wooden doll house, crayon and marker, 23 ⅝ x 23 ⅝ x 31 ⅜ inches
portrait of the artist #2, 2024, photograph, artist frame, 37 x 50 inches
up, 2024, inkjet print, artist frame, 37 x 50 inches
light as a feather, 2024, inkjet print, artist frame, 23 x 33 inches
portrait of the artist #1, 2024, photograph, artist frame, 37 x 50 inches
enough, 2024, inkjet print, artist frame, 32 x 24 inches
video444_1_what_is_a_black_space?//imgonnaloveyouanyway.mp4, 2021, video, 05:00:00 hrs
teeny, 2024, inkjet print, artist frame, 60 x 44 inches
untitled #9, 2023, afro pick with peace sign and fist, 0.5 x 9.5 x 3 inches
Awaken, 2023, inkjet print, artist frame, 24 x 14.75 inches
By special request (A.S.F.K), 2023, aluminum baseball bat, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Ziplock bag, 7 x 9 x 44 inches
mansa, 2024, inkjet print, artist framee, 32 x 24 inches
The limelight, 2024, (12) limes, pennies, zinc nails, copper wire, alligator clips, led light, variable dimensions
The big dance, 2022, basketball hoop, dress, earrings, 44 x 10.5 x 45 inches
black holiday, 2019, acorn christmas lights, inkjet photograph, house paint, roofing nails, 40 x 30 inches
private island getaway, 2024 , inkjet print, artist frame, 60 x 44 inches
breakthisdollarforme, 2022, television monitor, ripped $20.00 bill, video, 00:03:37 mins
black body radiation #1, 2018, (2) inkjet print on transparency paper, t pins, 8.5 x 2 x 11 inches
