Lola Ogbara and Amina Ross: split my sides // Spring Exhibition Opens at the The Luminary

Opening on April 9 at The Luminary

6-9 PM

"split my sides" is an exhibition on Black trans and feminine interiority // geographies featuring new and recent work by Lola Ayisha Ogbara and Amina Ross.

The Luminary is pleased to present its spring exhibition split my sides features new and recent work by Lola Ayisha Ogbara and Amina Ross on view from April 9 to July 16, 2022. The exhibition’s title derives from Maya Angelou’s poem and performance, “The Mask,” of which she writes to honor the "survival apparatus" performed by Black folks to conceal pain through laughter:

When I think about myself
I almost laugh myself to death...
I laugh so hard HA! HA! I almos’ choke
When I think about myself.

Ogbara and Ross tend to this concealed space of the Black trans and feminine interior. Through the natural forms of ceramic sculpture and the digital registers of sound and film, they spatialize this interior into an emotional landscape with which we can engage. Their production of space contests the ground beneath our feet, freeing their position as they assert a sense of self.

Among the highlights of the exhibition is A Bellow of My Laughter Pt 1. and Pt 2., a ceramic and sonic work by Ogbara which combines curvaceous lines, ambiguous bodily form, simultaneously cosmic and organic texture, and frenetic sound to speak to an unnameable state of being. Ross revisits Sonic Rupture: songs for(e) the swarm, an ongoing project recreated with new collaborators, to design a site-specific architecture. This multi-channel video installation is an exercise in the emotional range necessary for Black trans being.

split my sides is organized by Stephanie Koch, Gallery Director. Related programming includes artist performances, curator-led tour, a listening party, and workshop led by Ladi’Sasha Jones, for dates which are to be announced. The exhibition is accompanied by a limited edition vinyl record produced with support from Experimental Sound Studio in fall 2022.

Support for this exhibition has been provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Missouri Arts Council, the Regional Arts Council, Via Art Fund, and the Wagner Foundation. The Luminary also thanks Troy Sherman, Kevin Harris, and Olivia Page for their creative and logistical contribution.