Second Street Gallery is pleased to present Language of the Heart, an exhibition featuring the work of Adejoke Tugbiyele, curated by Kristen Chiacchia, in the Main Gallery.

The exhibition opened on First Friday, February 2, 2018 from 5:30-7:30pm. A special artist talk and collaborative performance titled, Sekwanele / My Queen's Throne, took place during the First Friday opening reception at 6:30pm. The performance featured an original music composition and voice by Sisipho Ndzuzo. Audience members in attendance had the opportunity to participate in this unique collaborative experience.

Language of the Heart is a combination of installation, sculpture, video, photography, drawings, and performance. These dynamic mediums serve to illustrate how the molding of materials can be a metaphor for self-progress and the boundless opportunities for becoming our best, most honest selves. In Tugbiyele’s words, we “give birth to our true selves when we display strength in vulnerability, while celebrating the magnificent power of transformation we embody.” The exhibition features sculptural figures that display timeless gestures in order to link us with the past, and emphasize the lessons we wish to teach future generations. Her works encourage more than anything an unapologetic commitment to love in the face of discrimination towards race, gender, sexuality, class and religion. According to Tugbiyele, “we can still take flight, push forward, show reverence and assume our place on Love’s throne.”

Adejoke Tugbiyele is an award-winning, queer, American-Nigerian artist and advocate. She was a featured participant in CultureSummit2017-Abu Dhabi, is a recipient of the 2016 Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptures Grant, one of 100 Leading Global Thinkers in 2015, and a U.S. Fullbright Student Alumni.

EXHIBITION SPONSORS

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts