Vis 202 Without Transgression

39th Center Annual: Living Creatures

“The only photographer in the exhibition who does not depict a body is Amir Saadiq. Yet, in his haunted landscape, the body is inescapably present, through both the palpable presence of the photographer and the echoing presence of his ancestors.”

I am excited to be part of the upcoming Houston Center For Photography exhibition Living Creatures. The image selected is from the ongoing series, Without Transgression. A quote by Frantz Fanon inspired this body of work: 

 “I came into the world imbued with the will to find meaning in things, my spirit filled with the desire to attain to the source of the world, and then I found that I was an object in the midst of other objects.” In this series, I am exploring the gratuitous violence the middle passage and slavery have enacted on generations of Blacks. For this body of work, I attempt to create a visual language where language does not exist to define this violence. One of the ways I try to do this is through absence. The quote from the curator, Kristen Gaylord, is very much appreciated. To have this work selected for a show about portraiture is satisfying. Thank you. 

Anyone in the Houston area, please come and see my work and the work of other dope artists. The exhibition is on view from July 8th– September 4th. Opening Reception is Friday, July 8th, 6-8 PM.