Future People, a solo exhibition by Derrick Adams, is a multifaceted experience combining large scale two dimensional works on paper mimicking spaceship windows with galactic scenes, a video projection animating the objects included in the collages, sculpture installation referencing a space station control center, with an added live DJ set component featured opening night and throughout the run of show. The installation as a space for social engagement will also be a haven for public programming; film screenings, conversations and entertainment surrounding the theme of the exhibition.
This exhibition will utilize Stony Island Arts Bank’s archive by incorporating or making reference to images, music and text from the Johnson Publishing Library, the Glass Lantern Slides Collection, the Edward J. Williams Collection of objects of “negrobilia,” and the Frankie Knuckles Vinyl Collection, with a focus on past, present and future ideas depicting black culture’s interest in futurism and its roots in Africa. The exhibition imagines the future as a place of discovery and adventure. The driving concept for this installation is Sun Ra’s Space Is The Placedocumentary, and the television series, Star Trek. It also acknowledges the AfroFuturism movement fusing elements of sci-fi and the African-American narrative with contemporary culture.
