Hyde Park Art Center presents solo exhibition
Lola Ayisha Ogbara: Hues of Black & Blue
August 6 – November 19, 2022
Featuring sculptural works from Art Center’s Ceramics Apprenticeship that
reimagine Black feminine identity
CHICAGO (July 18, 2022)—Hyde Park Art Center, the renowned non-profit hub for contemporary art located on Chicago’s vibrant South Side, announces solo exhibition Lola Ayisha Ogbara: Hues of Black & Blue, featuring new work by the artist made during her year-long Ceramics Apprenticeship at the Art Center in 2021, on view August 6 – November 19, 2022.
Playing on the conceptual and literal contexts of the colors black and blue, Ogbara’s sculptural assemblages combine ceramic vessels, along with imagery, sound and domestic objects like stools and tables. Using familiar and unfamiliar spatial aesthetics while pointing out the complexities of emotion, Ogbara defies the flattening of Black feminine identity and reinforces its intersectional dynamism by challenging gazes that reinforce systems of oppression.
“My practice explores the multifaceted implications and ramifications of being in regard to the Black experience. I work with clay as a material in order to emphasize a necessary fragility which symbolizes an essential contradiction implicit in empowerment,” says the artist.
Born and raised in Chicago, Ogbara’s practice range from sculpture, sound, design, photography to installation art. Ogbara holds a Bachelor of Arts in Arts Entertainment & Media Management from Columbia College Chicago in 2013 and a MFA in Visual Arts from Washington University Sam Fox School of Art & Design. In 2017, Ogbara co-founded Artists in the Room, a collective of artists and scholars who host artists, emerging and established, in hopes of serving as a catalyst for artist development and networking. Ogbara has also received residencies, awards and speaking engagements including: the Multicultural Fellowship sponsored by the NCECA 52nd Annual Conference, the Arts + Public Life and Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture Residency at the University of Chicago, and If It Wasn’t for the Woman: Reimagining Portraiture and Power lecture at the St. Louis Art Museum, among others.
Admission, hours, and COVID-19-related safety protocols
Exhibition admission is free and allows walk-ins. Masks are encouraged but not required to enter the building. Hyde Park Art Center views its community’s health and safety as the number one priority and is utilizing the guidance from the City and State to inform its safety protocols. For latest exhibition hours and COVID policy, visit https://www.hydeparkart.org/plan-your-visit/.
About the Hyde Park Art Center
Hyde Park Art Center, at 5020 South Cornell Avenue on Chicago’s vibrant South Side, is a hub for contemporary arts in Chicago, serving as a gathering and production space for artists and the broader community to cultivate ideas, impact social change, and connect with new networks. Since its inception in 1939, Hyde Park Art Center has grown from a small collective of quirky artists to establishing a strong legacy of innovative development and emerging as a unique Chicago arts institution with social impact. The Art Center functions as an amplifier for today and tomorrow’s creative voices, providing the space to cultivate and create new work and connections.
