CURATED BY TERRELL TILFORD

There  was  great  applause  and  cheers  on  Monument  Avenue  in  the  heart  of  the confederacy in Richmond, VA as the largest Confederate statue of Robert E. Lee in America  was  removed  from  its  perch  on  Wednesday,  September  8,  2021.  To Southerners, they understand that these statues are monuments not necessarily to a particular  history  but  more  insidiously,  these  are  monuments  which  belong  to  a particular  ideology.  As  we  continue  to  figure  out  where  we  are  heading  to  as a nation  as  we  emerge  through  these vast societal vicissitudes and verisimilitudes, we often look to artists and artwork to shepherd us through these moments of great turmoil, struggle and indecisiveness.

In C. Vann Woodward's novel The Strange Career of Jim Crow, he opines that the Civil War represented a falling out between white men and a reconciliation which was  fought out on the backs of Black men. The falling out led to freedom but the reconciliation  led  to  re-enslavement.  The  Confederate  statues  are  a  reflection of that  Faustian  bargain.  All  of  the  statues  that  were  erected  in  the  South  and  the North and across America, were a reflection of the nation choosing to turn its back on the idea that we are a genuinely multi-racial democracy. We continue to fight those choices that the nation made hundreds of years ago.

Under   this   backdrop   then,   curator   Terrell   Tilford   presents   C11H17NO3,   a thought-provoking, multi-racial mash-up of ideas all in order to advance our global society to achieve greater depths of understanding, compassion and inclusivity.

Therefore, C11H17NO3 - a visual elixir, is a large-scale group exhibition composed of  26  contemporary  artists:  Abi  Salami,  Alicia  Piller,  Ariel  Vargassal,  Barry Yusufu,  Bryan  Lee  Tilford,  Chelle  Barbour,  Cristina  Martinez,  Daniel  Nartey, Diana  Rosa,  Edyta  Pachowicz,  Floyd  Strickland,  Hasef,  Idris  Habib,  Joseph Brandon,   John   Trevino,   Kaye  Freeman,  Lauren  Pearce,  Miles  Regis,  Panni Malekzadeh,  Patrick  Henry  Johnson,  REWA,  Robert  Peterson,  Shantell  Martin, Tommy Mitchell, Victoria Cassinova & featuring iconic sculpture & performance by Mr. Timothy Washington.