“partus/chorus” is the first exhibition curated by filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist Ja’Tovia Gary.
The exhibition will include works by Doreen Lynette Garner, an in-situ installation by Eniola Dawodu, as well a large scale video mapped sculptural installation by Ja’Tovia Gary.
Gary’s thematic point of departure for this exhibition is the legal doctrine partus sequitur ventrem instituted during the period of chattel slavery in the United States, summarized, as goes the womb, meaning the child’s status as slave will be dictated by the mother’s status. This concept of Black women’s wombs as sites of transformation, of both creation and destruction, and a portal by which historically subjects have become objects is a central theme that underscores the exhibition. Considerations such as the womb’s world making potentiality, the embodied knowledge associated with Black gender expansiveness, the power of the matrilineal, and liminal spaces are guiding principles that organize the show.
at galerie frank elbaz, Paris
until July 30, 2022