Member Reception: Friday, February 3, 6–8 PM
Conversation with Eric Firestone Gallery: Saturday, February 4, 2 PM
The Houston Museum of African American Culture presents Ellsworth Ausby: Odyssey, a posthumous exhibition of paintings by the artist Ellsworth Ausby who died in Brooklyn in 2011. The HMAAC exhibition primarily focuses on the Afrofuturist abstract painter's work on cut canvas from the 1970s which embodies his vibrant geometric forms that reflect his achievement of liberating the canvas from rigid structures, allowing them to float freely on the walls and spaces they occupy.
Although one of Ausby’s paintings Untitled (Space Odyssey), 1980, was the inspiration for the exhibition title, it also references Untitled, 1974 which fuses elements of African sculptural forms and speculative cosmic vessels to transport us across space and time through an incredibly vivid painting. The exhibition will feature 18 works that Ausby created between 1970 – 1976, including Space Odyssey from 1980.
Ellsworth Ausby: Odyssey is made possible through an extensive loan from the Eric Firestone Gallery in New York, and our generous sponsors who include The Stardust Fund, The Houston Endowment, Jones Walker LLP, H.E.B. as well as the Board of Directors at HMAAC. Ellsworth Ausby: Odyssey opens Saturday, February 4, with a member preview reception on Friday, February 3, from 6–8 PM.