Conductions: Black Imaginings is a programmatic series of ephemeral in-gallery activations by Black artists which look at the ways in which Black performance, sound art, video and social practice art become bridges between present Museum practices and future Black imaginings of those spaces. Drawing on the use of the term “conduction” in Ta-Nehisi Coates’ novel The Water Dancer and the work of composer and music conductor Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris, conduction is a practice of possibilities and a conjuring of unconventional routes towards collective creation and living.
On view from March 22-26, 2023 at the Portland Art Museum in Portland Oregon, this iteration of Conductions engaged the work of artists ariella tai, Ella Ray and Sharyll Burroughs in considerations around relationships to and exchanges of power. The works recognized power as a malleable material, nodding to our collective potential to manipulate, exchange and destabilize it. Unconcerned with politeness, respectability and political correctness, the works in this exhibition gestured towards honest and challenging conversations around agency and self-determination. Unrestrained and fluid, the works in this show served as interruptions, pauses and reflections within the museum space. Conductions concluded with a public program titled, “Conduction: An Intervention with Sharyll Burroughs”.
Learn more about the exhibition on KBOO in “Jaleesa Johnston on Conductions Black Imaginings”.
Conductions: Black Imaginings is conceptualized by Jaleesa Johnston in her role as Head of Public Programs and Engagement at the Portland Art Museum. The 2023 iteration of Conductions was curated by Jaleesa Johnston and supported by the Portland Art Museum’s Artist Fund and its Learning and Community Partnerships Department.
Installation view of Burning Questions in the Park Lobby of the Portland Art Museum
Photo by Mario Gallucci
Photo by Mario Gallucci
Photo by Mario Gallucci
Installation view of Burning Questions in the exhibition Color Line: Black Excellence on the World Stage in the Link Gallery of the Portland Art Museum.
Installation view of look back at me in the Hoffman Lobby of the Portland Art Museum
Photo by Mario Gallucci
Photo by Mario Gallucci
Courtesy of the artist
Photo by Mario Gallucci
Installation view of Wabi-sabi and other works in the Traces exhibition in the Jubitz Center for Modern and Contemporary Art of the Portland Art Museum.
Photo by Mario Gallucci
Photo by Mario Gallucci
Photo by Mario Gallucci