Looking Back at Shikeith: The Language Must Not Sweat 2019
For 21 years, Locust Projects’ core mission has been to advocate for artists at all career stages by providing career-building resources and opportunities to experiment and take risks. On April 2019, artist and filmmaker Shikeith presented his first large-scale exhibition at Locust Projects, titled The Language Must Not Sweat. Over the past year, Shikeith’s career and creative practice has evolved immensely, in fact, one of his works was recently acquired for The Hammer Museum’s permanent collection, and he is currently working from his home studio on a new installation to exhibit at The Mattress Factory Museum of Contemporary Art in Pittsburgh, PA, for when the museum reopens.
Join us in applauding Shikeith for his amazing work and accomplishments, and in looking back at his exhibition and experience at Locust Projects!
The Language Must Not Sweat is a five-channel video installation, titled after an expression used by novelist Toni Morrison, that explores what puddles deep in the psyche of Black American men. Inside the installation, haint-blue lights were suspended above mounds of soil and a pool of water that visitors were welcomed to wander. Stretched across the space were video projection loops of a blurry figure in a broken mirror; cocoa butter lotion alongside piled books on black manhood; and the blue-black, fleshed bodies of three black men drenched in sweat beads cycling through stages of flutter, exertion, and contemplation.
“At Locust Projects,...it’s literally ‘come in and do what you need to do.’ And so, having that opportunity, that’s basically to experiment, fail, try and see what happens, does a lot for an artist’s process, especially a young artist who’s still trying to figure things out.” —Shikeith
Watch video documentation of the exhibition below:
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Shikeith is originally from Philadelphia, PA, and now lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA. He received a BA from The Pennsylvania State University (2010) and an MFA in Sculpture from The Yale School of Art (2018). Within overlapping practices of visual art and film making, he investigates the experiences of black men within and around concepts of psychic space, the blues, and black queer fugitivity. He has shared his work nationally and internationally through recent exhibitions and screenings that include The Language Must Not Sweat, Locust Projects, Miami, FL; Notes Towards Becoming A Spill, Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, GA; Shikeith: This was his body/His body finally his, MAK Gallery, London, UK; Go Tell It: Civil Rights Photography, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA; A Drop of Sun Under The Earth, MOCA LA, Los Angeles, CA; Labor Relations, Wroclaw Contemporary Museum, Poland; and Black Intimacy: An Evening With Shikeith, MoMA, New York, NY. He is a 2019 recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grants.
Locust Projects 2018-2019 exhibitions and programs are made possible with support from: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; The National Endowment for the Arts Art Works Grant; the Hillsdale Fund; the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority; The State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; The Kirk Foundation; Vhernier; the Team LAB Annual Education Fund; Locust Projects Exhibitionist and Significant Others Members.