Memento: Ashanté Kindle, Samuel Nnorom & Jamel Robinson
154 NY Booth 7 May 8 - 11, 2025
KATES-FERRI PROJECTS presents MEMENTO, a trio presentation of artworks from Ashanté Kindle, Samuel Nnorom and Jamel Robinson at 1-54NY Contemporary African Art Fair, Booth #7, located at Halo 28 Liberty Street, NYC 10005 from May 8 – 11, 2025.
Memento brings together three contemporary African American and African artists creating unique works of art using textiles, found objects, ready-mades, and acrylic mediums on canvas to create a rich and thought-provoking space for dialogue as they explore representation, cultural identity, grief, self-worth and memory.
On view Ashanté Kindle, Samuel Nnorom and Jamel Robinson offer a dynamic visual conversation using traditional materials and mixed media to create their own narratives. The exhibition aims to inspire deep and personal conversations on the intersections between art, culture, identity, and memory.
Ashanté Kindle, based in New York, creates mixed media paintings that are a deep personal exploration of memory, identity, and possibility through the lens of Black hair. Hair has always been a source of freedom and self-expression for Kindle—a living archive that holds personal stories and generational experiences and celebrates the uniqueness of each human being. “I think about the joy and care tied to hair, especially in my childhood. Acts of adornment with objects like barrettes, beads, and bows brought me a sense of beauty and pride, shaping my understanding of identity and self-worth. These materials have become central to my practice, carrying a magic that I want to honor and reimagine.” The mixed media paintings are shaped as circular installations or ovals, in a reference to the history of portraits and photography.
Samuel Nnorom, based in Nigeria, will present large scale, soft sculptures made of traditional African wax fabrics, foam, and scraps of textiles, engulfing the walls like barnacles or ivy. By sewing, tying, and cutting – skills inherited by his mother – Nnorom creates intricate constellations of foam balls stitched together, a metaphor for the “fabric of society”: “Fabrics evoke a sense of social structure that interlaces humanity into society; however, when referring to the “fabric of society”, it is unique to different societies which informs my contemplation consumerism, industrialization, and colonial remnants. These themes are sometimes expressed through metaphors such as bubble forms, bindle forms, lines of fabric strips, exploded bubbles, and tied clothes. Such expressions respond to our daily lives and struggles while fostering commonality and social connection.” Nnorom’s fiber art, with its tactile and textured nature symbolizes the interconnectedness of cultures and societies while exploring complex narratives about identity, cultural memory, and tradition.
Jamel Robinson, based in Harlem, NY, creates abstract paintings by punching the canvas with boxing gloves in colors of black, blue, and white. Jamel draws on his experience with the people, places and things that have added color and joy to his life and uses that to navigate pain while leaving a mark of love on the canvas’ surface – which becomes the diary for his memories. In doing so he addresses the stark nature of grief and the peace that he finds through the creative process. These free-form paintings are a celebration of life in the midst of death and the grief it leaves in its wake; they are a testament to light and its promise to always penetrate the darkness; they are an ode to the calm that finds its way to the midst of the storm. Through tears I thought about my connection to the water in times of releasing grief and then I got up and began to box in blues and whites to reference the depths of the oceans and my place in the world”