By Lookout Staff

October 2, 2024 -- Santa Monica College (SMC) will host an exhibition showcasing works by Black artists from the Los Angeles area that expresses their connection to the past.

“Converge+Vertex: Traversing the minor gesture of timelines” opens at SMC's Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery with a free reception Tuesday, October 15, from 5 to 8 p.m. The exhibit runs through May 11, 2025

Presented in collaboration with the artist/archivist/activist group The Black Lunch Table the exhibit explores what has influenced the artists' work and "how they have influenced each other through intergenerational conversations," organizers said.

“Converge+Vertex” brings together 11 artists from the Los Angeles creative community, who "explore the planes of emergence, existence, and ascension through their art-making practices."

The exhibit was planned by SMC students under the leadership of interdisciplinary artist and guest curator Cole James, who teaches at Otis College of Art and Design.

"Black body-minds are spaces of convergence, evolving into vertices where our multifaceted identities intersect and expand," said James, who collaborates with numerous organizations on projects supporting restorative justice and environmental advocacy.

"We embody the intersections of past, present, and future, with our collective humanity forming the vertex that marks our expansive evolution," James said.

Among the works are Kim Morris’ photographs, which epitomize "the presence of Blackness and our ties to the South and the journeys north and west" and Michael Massenburg’s collages and paintings that "seamlessly traverse pieces of cultural memory."

Chelle Barbour's photomontages "invite viewers to rethink how our bodies might exist in the world of tomorrow," while a collage by Leah King "captures the moments that define how Blackness requires movement and poetry."

Other works depict how "current challenges are never far from the surface."

William Ransom’s sculpture of a wooden American flag "reminds us of the fragile bonds that unite us," while Alicia Piller’s sculpture using raw material, curated objects and news clippings is a monument and memorial to the victims of gun violence.

The quilts of Lavialle Campbell and Cass Everage create a dialogue between past and future, while the seminal works of Ronn Davis and Noah Purifoy encircle all these artists.

"Together, all the artists in the exhibition represent a multigenerational and diverse range of media, archiving our presence and offering a love letter to the essence of Blackness," organizers said.

The SMC Pete & Susan Barrett Gallery is located at the SMC Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th Street (at Santa Monica Boulevard). Entry is through the Performing Arts Center’s courtyard.