“Go take a little time, go to Panama. Make a little home there”
Abattoir presents the first photography exhibition at the gallery, a selection of prints from a new body of work by Atlanta-based photographer Nydia Blas. Born and raised in Ithaca, NY, Blas holds a BS from Ithaca College and an MFA from Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts. Her first significant project, The Girls Who Spun Gold, resulted from a Girl Empowerment Group that Blas founded after observing a lack of space and community for teen girls of African descent in Ithaca. In 2021, she was commissioned by the Johnson Museum at Cornell University, (Ithaca, NY), to create a new body of work in response to the collection of family albums of Black families from the 1860s to 1980s held in the Cornell University Library. Love, You Came from Greatness, was a two-year project now on view at the Johnson Museum. She is currently Assistant Professor of Photography at Spelman College in Atlanta.
The photographs on view, The Silver Woman: Becoming Afro-Latina, were made on a recent trip to Panama where Blas immersed herself in the landscape and history of the Afro-Latino heritage of her father. Part of an ongoing project, this exhibition is the first presentation of Blas’ Panamanian travels and research of the land and culture of an unexplored aspect of her family history. As all Blas’ work resides in photography’s singular ability for visual story-telling, this project continues to weave stories of circumstance, value and power in an allegorical space. As the artist says, “the result is an environment that is dependent the belief that in order to maintain resiliency, a magical outlook is necessary.”
Opening Reception
Friday, November 17th from 5–7pm
Artist Talk
Saturday, November 18th at 2pm
Blas will be in conversation with Amanda D. King, photographer, conceptual artist and founder of the organization, “Shooting Without Bullets” in Cleveland, empowering teens of color to tell their stories through photography and design.
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Abattoir Gallery is a space for contemporary art in the Clark Fulton neighborhood of Cleveland. The gallery's mission is to showcase the best regional art in a national context.
3619 Walton Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44113, United States
info@abattoirgallery.com lisa@abattoirgallery.com (216) 820-1260
The gallery is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 12:00–5:00pm, or by appointment.
Abattoir will be closed for our winter holiday from December 17th–February 18th.
The last day to view The Silver Woman: Becoming Afro-Latina by Nydia Blas is December 16th.
Abattoir will then be closed for our winter holiday until February 18th when we return with the group exhibition On Intimacy.