iona rozeal brown's works examine ways that Japanese society has appropriated African American hip-hop culture.
While spending time in Japan, the artist began exploring early Japanese ukiyo-e wood-block prints and became interested in popular Japanese youth culture known as Ganguro (literally "black face"). This trend involved Japanese teenagers imitating hip-hop idols by dressing in casual baggy clothes, weaving their hair into cornrows, and darkening their skin at tanning salons or with makeup. This exhibition included three paintings from her a3 Afro-Asiatic Allegory series. They visually blended Japanese and African American culture and explored such, issues as minstrelsy and consumerism.
Curator: Tumelo Mosaka
