Find Your Joy, How to Endure Earthlings Being Ghetto with Their Gender Binaries, April Bey. CMYK halftone hand-printed image transfer, watercolor on gesso board hand-sewn into metallic vinyl wrapped wood panel. 32 x 28 x 2.5 inches. [Image courtesy of PCC]
In a celebration of Afrofuturism and the creative genius of multidisciplinary artist April Bey, the Boone Family Gallery at Pasadena City College (PCC) proudly presents “Atlantican Opulencscapes Part II.” Running from March 4 to May 4, this immersive exhibition showcases Bey’s latest work, inviting visitors to delve into the vibrant world she has meticulously crafted.
The gallery, at the PCC Center for the Arts, is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
“Atlantican Opulencscapes Part II” was unveiled on ArtNight Pasadena on Friday night, March 8.
Nassau, Bahamas-born Bey is a tenured professor in Los Angeles. She weaves a narrative that transcends borders, intertwining Bahamian and American cultures.
Her interdisciplinary artwork serves as both introspection and social critique, exploring themes such as feminism, generational theory, social media, and constructs of race within supremacist systems.
Bey’s focus on the fictional society of Atlantica, a speculative AfroFuturist world, takes center stage in “Atlantican Opulencscapes.” The exhibition is the first part of a trilogy simultaneously gracing the Los Angeles art scene, with the other halves showcased at Glendale Community College Art Gallery and Vielmetter Los Angeles.
“Atlantican Opulencscapes” is more than an exhibition. Bey’s paintings and textile works, developed during a year sabbatical, offer an Afrofuturist lens through which she reflects on queerness, feminism, and internet culture. The immersive installation combines plants, video, music, photography, and oversized mixed-media paintings, prints, and textiles, creating a tableau that resonates with cultural movements dating back to the late 1960s.
As part of the exhibition, Bey will deliver an Artist in Residence Lecture on Thursday, March 28, 5 p.m. in Westerbeck Hall, where art enthusiasts and students can gain insights into the creative process and inspiration behind Bey’s remarkable body of work.
The Galleries at PCC continue their over 35-year tradition of bringing world-class artists to the campus through the Artist in Residence program.
This initiative, supported largely by the Pasadena Art Alliance, aims to engage students and the community in meaningful dialogues with influential artists. Bey joins the esteemed list of past participants, including William Wegman, Wayne Thiebaud, Faith Ringgold, Alison Saar, and Tim Hawkinson.
The Boone Art Gallery is in the PCC Center for the Arts and the V Gallery is in room V-108 on the campus, which is at 1570 E. Colorado Blvd.
Parking for the exhibition is located off Bonnie Ave in Parking Lot 5. Semester permit or $2 daily permit is required.
For inquiries about the exhibition, please contact Gallery Director Jeff Cain at jcain4@pasadena.edu.
