ARTNOW: 2023 FOCUS AWARDS
Thursday, January 11
Oklahoma Contemporary Art Center
11 NW 11th St. Oklahoma City, OK 73103
5:30 | Doors open
6 p.m. | Reception
6:30 p.m. | Artist Talk with awardee Sterlin Harjo moderated by Guest Curator Lindsay Aveilhé
IMAGE: Exhibition installation of ArtNow: The Soul Is a Wanderer. Courtesy of Oklahoma Contemporary
Crucial to finding the way is this: there is no beginning or end.
You must make your own map.
— Joy Harjo, A Map to the Next World, 2000
The Soul Is a Wanderer is the 2023 edition of the Oklahoma Contemporary ArtNow biennial exhibition, highlighting new and recent art from a selection of artists active in the state.
Thirteen cross-generational artists come together in this exhibition organized by Tulsa-based guest curator Lindsay Aveilhé. The Soul Is a Wanderer takes its title from a line in the poem A Map to the Next World by 2019-2022 United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo (b. 1951, Tulsa; Muscogee Nation). The artists draw inspiration from the poem’s call to remember the past as we journey beyond the present by unearthing complex histories and imagining alternate routes toward emancipatory futures of our making.
Through distinct perspectives and approaches, the painting, sculpture, video, installation, performance, photography, and ceramics in the exhibition capture moments of passage, reckoning, and renewal. Together, the works in The Soul Is a Wanderer evoke the landscape of Oklahoma — its topography and our shared reality — as a site for questioning, dreaming, and action.
To learn more, visit oklahomacontemporary.org (new hyperlink: https://oklahomacontemporary.org/exhibitions/current/artnow-2023)
About Oklahoma Contemporary
At the new, state-of-the-art Oklahoma Contemporary, visitors explore art and creativity through exhibitions, performances, and a wide variety of educational programs. At its core, the multidisciplinary contemporary arts organization is an inclusive space. Exhibitions and most programs are free. You are always welcome here. To learn more, visit oklahomacontemporary.org.
IMAGE: Oklahoma Contemporary, located in Oklahoma City. Courtesy of Oklahoma Contemporary.