FRONT GALLERY: AUJOURD'HUI, CAUSONS AVEC NOS AIEUX: INTIMATE AND FOREIGN
ROSINE KOUAMEN

ON VIEW: JUNE 20 - JULY 26, 2014
OPENING RECEPTION: JUNE 20, 6:00 - 9:00 PM

Art League Houston (ALH) is excited to presentAujourd'hui, Causons Avec Nos Aieux: Intimate and Foreign, an exhibition of work by Cameroon-born and Houston-based artist Rosine Kouamen. The exhibition features a selection of photographs, video, textile and sculpture that explore themes of ancestral history and genetic nostalgia, in relation to cultural traditions, spirituality, morality, ethnicity, geography, beauty, and ethics. The opening reception is Friday June 20, 6 - 9 PM with an artist talk at 7:00 PM.

Aujourd'hui, Causons Avec Nos Aieux: Intimate and Foreign explores ones understanding of tradition vis-à-vis modernity, as it continues to affect global communities. The works in this exhibition focus on how cultural relativity influences worldview, and encourages a dialogue between foreign and domestic conceptions.

“In the present global narrative,” says the artist. “There are an abundance of contradictions, including but not limited to the inherent bias of perspective implicit to any version of history. I am inspired by how the spaces we occupy, coupled with the persistent call of history, guide our myriad interactions with people throughout our lives.”

The exhibition is centered around a site-specific textile sculpture, which hangs from the ceiling in the middle of the gallery. The artwork references traditional African hierarchical and societal structures, and explores how constructed imaginations of relatives lost, are the result of relentless rewriting of others’ histories. The exhibit also features a series of mixed media sculptures that line the gallery walls, referencing the development of filial history, as it intertwines with particular regional histories.