Image courtesy of the gallery
Leila Heller Gallery has opened a new group show – Land of Honey- in New York. Curated by Emann Odufu, the exhibition is open from May 5th to June 3rd, 2023. Guyanese-Nigerian filmmaker Chelsea Odufu is one of the exhibiting artists.
The exhibition “Land of Honey” is focused on ideas that have been commodified and then sold to the general public about what it means to be a human in modern society. The title is derived from the biblical phrase “Land of Milk and Honey.” The show is referencing how America was described as an ever-elusive land of honey, opportunities, and abundance to European immigrants in the early 1900s. However, this connection is applicable to the present day as there is a new generation of immigrants leaving their home countries for countries all over the world, New York City or, more recently, commercial hubs like Dubai, in search of the elusive land of honey.
Image courtesy of the gallery
Through the featured artists’ works, the show tracks the ideas of commodified fantasies. The central theme of the exhibition focuses on the idea of sold dreams and the sometimes-illusory promise of abundance and prosperity that comes with them. The artists in the show, in various ways, reflect current conditions while employing some form of abstraction or manipulation of material, whether conceptual or physical, digital or analog, to pierce the veil of this dream state into territories that are less easy to discuss in today’s society.
The show’s curator, Emann Odufu is a filmmaker, critic, and curator of Guyanese and Nigerian descent. Over the last decade, Emann has formed a unique perspective on the role of art in contemporary society by pursuing creative pursuits in film and working with art institutions and organizations. Most recently, Emann has curated a solo show of German contemporary artist Anselm Reyle at MoCA Westport and a solo show of artist Samuel Stabler at the National Arts Club in NYC.
Chelsea Odufu is a filmmaker and multi-disciplinary artist whose works range across narrative, experimental film, video art, installation, and photography. Her work is visually striking, and thought-provoking. Her work examines the ways in which culture, religion, and geographic location influence the way different ethnic identities are formed and evolve. Chelsea is deeply concerned with how traditional aspects of African and Caribbean culture are being preserved in the face of urbanization and globalization. Her works have been exhibited at the Dakar Biennial, Alabama Contemporary Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporic Art, and the A&A Hillyer Gallery in DC. She is a part of upcoming group shows at the Seattle Art Museum as well as a show at the Something Video Gallery in Ivory Coast in 2023. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, and Huffington Post, amongst others.
