Press Release - "We Matter" by Adrian Octavius Walker
Adrian Octavius Walker
“Power of Kinship”
Archival Pigment Print
Wood Frame
13.5 x 20 Inches
2018
pt.2: Oakland
Adrian Octavius Walker
We Matter
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 14, 2020, 12-10 p.m.
Artist Talk: Saturday, March 14 at 4pm
Showing Through: Friday, April 3, 2020
1523b Webster St.
Oakland, CA 94612
info@part2gallery.com
pt. 2: Oakland is pleased to present We Matter, a solo exhibition of photographs by Adrian Octavius Walker. Walker’s work explores Black American beauty traditions among Black men. The intimacy depicted in each photograph erases the possibility of threat often assigned to black men and instead pushes the viewer to see the power of kinship within the Black community. Walker seeks to expand notions of Blackness by challenging the American perception of Black men. Inspired by his investigations of the Black body, dynamics of the Black family and archival work related to the African American experience, Walker works in both film and digital-format photography to create intimate portraits based on his studies of human interactions in urban settings that share untold stories.
Adrian Octavius Walker
“Covered in Crowns”
Archival Pigment Print
Wood Frame
40 x 27 Inches
2018
Adrian Octavius Walker (b. 1988, St. Louis, MO) is a mixed-media artist working primarily in film and digital format photography. In 2015, Walker self-published the book My Lens, Our Ferguson, a documentation of protests against police brutality after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, which was shortlisted for a Paris Photo-Aperture First Photo Book award and images from which were featured in a solo exhibition at the University of Alabama and five group exhibitions internationally. His work has been included in a variety of solo and group exhibitions including Black On Film (2016), Dandy Lion: The Black Dandy and Street Style (2016), Brighton Photo Biennial (2016), Street Beautification (2014), and Imagery of Chess at the World Chess Hall of Fame (2016). Walker is one of the prize-winning artists in The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today Competition currently on display at the National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. He lives and works in Chicago, IL.
Adrian Octavius Walker
“Our Vision”
Archival Pigment Print
Wood Frame
30 x 30 Inches
2018
CV
Education
BA in Sociology from the University of Missouri, St. Louis, MO
Solo Exhibitions
2020 We Matter, pt. 2: Gallery, Oakland, CA
2020 We Matter, The Hoxton, Chicago, IL
2019 We Matter, Collumbio, MO
2017 My Lens, Our Furguson, Gallery 1055, San Francisco, CA
2016 Black on Film, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
Group Exhibitions
2020 We Matter, WISH Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2020 Black Like Me, Maryville University, St. Louis, MO
2020 “Don’t Shoot” An Opus of the Opulence of Blackness, MOAD, San Francisco, CA
2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition - National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian, Washington, DC
2019 Analogue Portrait Project, House of Lucie at ROW DTLA, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Month of Photography Los Angeles, Arena 1 Gallery at Santa Monica Art Studios, Louis Angeles, CA
2018 Green Book: 2018 Juried Exhibition, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
2018 Juried Exhibition, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
2017 AWAKE 10x10 Reading Room, Book and Zine Bazaar, Magnum Foundation, New York, NY
2017 PGH Photo Fair, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
2017 Imagery of Chess, World Chess Hall of Fame, St. Louis, MO
2016 Dandy Lion: Curated by Shantrelle P. Lewis, Brighton Photo Biennial
2016 Black Mail pt. 2 “Living Room”, SPACE236, San Francisco, CA
2016 BAXTER ST at CCNY, 6th Annual Zine & Self-Published Photo Book Fair New York, NY
2016 Common Senses, The Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY
2016 Paris Photo-Aperture Photobook Awards 2015 / Photobook exhibition, Huis Marseille, 1016 EK Amsterdam
2015 Wade in the Water, Kranzberg Arts Center, St. Louis, MO
2014 Other Ways, Other Times, Philip Slein Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2014 Living Like Kings “Street Beautification”, World Chess Hall of Fame, St. Louis, MO
2010 Fresh Paint 2, 2720 Cherokee, St. Louis, MO
Auction
2020 Southern Exposure
2019 Southern Exposure
Curatorial
2020 Elements Of…, pt. 2: Gallery, Oakland, CA
2019 (Un) Knowing, Micro Gallery, Oakland, CA
2019 The Hair Appointment, Micro Gallery, Oakland, CA
2018 Walk In The Sun, Micro Gallery, Oakland, CA
2018 ACACIA, Micro Gallery, Oakland, CA
2017 Black Women over Breathing, Betti Ono Gallery, Oakland, CA
2017 Black Women over Breathing, Urb Arts, St. Louis, MO
Awards
2019 The Outwin Boochever National Portrait Competition (Commended) Washingtong, DC
2019 Culture Ball, Avant Garde Award, San Francisco, CA
2018 Black Enterprise BE Modern Man of Distinction 100
2016 Emerging 30, 30 under 30, Delux Magazine, St. Louis
2015 Paris Photo - Aperture First Photo-book (Shortlist)
Publications
2015 My Lens, Our Ferguson - Self Published, St. Louis, MO
Artist Talks, Lectures, Panels
2019 Afrotech: Creativity Beyond Craft, Oakland, CA
2018 Lunch Lecture, California College of the Arts, Oakland, CA
2017 Turnaround Arts Summer Leadership Retreat at Airlie, Warrenton, VA
2017 QBout!que / Artist Talk: The World Chess Hall of Fame, St. Louis, MO
2017 Open Show SF #84 Visual OMnivores, San Francisco, CA
2017 MoAD Vanguard Presents: The Intersection of Art & Technology, San Francisco, CA
2017 Photo Alliance - Photo Books Today | Symposium II, San Francisco, CA
2016 The Society for Photographic Education Midwest Regional Conference, St. Louis, MO
2016 St. Louis Design Week, Panel discussion, St. Louis, MO
2016 Photo-Bookworks Symposium, Rochester, NY
2016 Black On Film, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
2014 Photography As A Medium of Change: Practice, Politics and History, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
2014 Other Ways; Other Times, Phillip Slein, St. Louis, MO
2014 Street Beautification, World Chess Hall of Fame, St. Louis, MO
pt. 2: is a contemporary art gallery that opened its Oakland location in March of 2018 and its Los Angeles location in October of 2019. We feature monthly exhibitions by emerging and mid-career artists. pt. 2: Oakland is located at 1523 b Webster Street and has open gallery hours Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Opening receptions at pt.2: are always free and open to the public. To receive a preview of the exhibition please contact info@part2gallery.com.