ON VIEW | August 22 - September 13, 2020
Private Viewing | August 22, 2020; 12 - 9pm
General Public Opening | August 23, 2020 ; 1 - 7pm

The Gallery | WISH is pleased to announce , ‘Lion, Tigers, Bears And A DRACO’  a solo exhibition featuring Horace Imhotep. 

”In an alien nation where Ivorian rapacity breeds tricknology, what is left for a boy and his imagination?  In a post-crack dystopia where childhood is robbed, the young black imagination redefines the hero's journey as a framework to birth the conquering outlaw: where castles are traded for forty acres and swords for semi automatics.  A dark, yet liberating hologram embedded in the psyche, this imagination lends itself as medicine for the disenfranchised youth.  Much like the hero’s journey, however, the outlaw must return home to the simulated terror of reality.  Lion, Tigers, Bears & A Draco illustrates a parable that explores the matrix of ancestral memory at the crossroads of Black subjugation.”  Written by Eden Araya.

While steeped in current and historical truths, Horace Imhotep is  heavily influenced by his familial bonds and ancestral roots.  In his work , viewers can find neat pathways possibly leading to progress which pair with centuries of long narratives rooted in the ongoing perspectives and struggles of today.  His work attempts reconciliation with the past, recognition of the present, and defiance in taking ownership of the future.

H.I. paints in the languages of advertising and pop surrealism.  He neutralizes current, historic, political and, oftentimes, racially charged imagery as a way of converting these images into relics of a bygone era -- trying not to be fooled by temporary optimism because, sadly, history repeats itself. 

H.I.'s  work makes commentary on social matters, utilizing satire, bold color and a contemporary sensibility to arouse social justice, rebuke the commercialization of oppression and elegantly capture the essence of society grappling with the turmoil of a dream deferred.