[Image: Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola: Magic City installation (detail) at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2021.]
A Cadillac Escalade that morphs into a pulsating sound sculpture. Murray’s Pomade cans as minimalist totems. Durags that replace oil paint as a medium for creating monumentally-scaled action paintings.
Nigerian-American artist Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola examines Black culture through his beautifully innovative, thought-provoking Magic City exhibit. And we are here for it!
Magic City, a large-scale installation, will be on view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, from February 1 through July 11, 2021, and available to see virtually on the museum’s website starting February 19.
The evocative nature of objects is at the core of Magic City. In Akinbola’s mystical space, mass-produced and readymade materials—specifically those with cultural currency in the Black community—are transformed into animistic power objects that communicate the complexities of identity.