MASTERPIECE III
an ode to Okwui Enwezor
Curated by Melvin A. Marshall and Raphael Dapaah
9 July - 6 August, 2022
Band of Vices is pleased to present MASTERPIECE III: An Ode to Okwui Enwezor (“MIII”). MIII is the third exhibition in a series of annual group shows conceived of and curated by Band of Vices Senior Curator, Melvin A. Marshall. This year, Mr. Marshall is pleased to partner with independent curator Raphael Dapaah, an emerging force in the global art market with a particular emphasis on artists in Africa and of the African Diaspora. The goal of MIII is to shift and shatter outdated relations between African art and contemporaneity by collaborating with top international artists to enlarge and expand the art world’s understanding of African and Black artists.
The homage references arguably the most significant curator of our generation, the late great Okwui Enwezor of Nigeria. Mr. Enwezor, who recently passed at the early age of 55, left a curatorial legacy that was so tremendous and extensive, it still carries a profound impact on contemporary art as we know it today. Mr. Enwezor was a rare and unparalleled thinker and as the globe transitioned to the 21st century, he was a leading voice in shaping what direction global curating would take and he chose the direction of inclusion. Thus, his curatorial practice gave contemporary African and other marginalized artists greater global visibility and exposure by including them on equal footing with Western artists from Europe and America.
MIII’s themes include the trans-Atlantic slave trade, globalization, immigration, displacement and diaspora, joy, spirituality, pandemics, and racial reckoning, among other topics that are timely and urgent. The Exhibition seeks to redress the cultural, racial, socio-political, economic and national biases of the past and to develop a more inclusive and equitable approach to understanding our current contemporary art world.
