S is for Soul Sister Exhibition, presented by Arts + Public Life

2020 marks 50 years since children living in the Harold Ickes Homes sat for the “Black ABCs, used as visual aides in Chicago classrooms.

Arts + Public Life presents S is for Soul Sister, an exhibition showcasing photographs by Okunola Jeyifous, an independent photographer and neurobiologist, at the University of Chicago.

Exhibition Dates: January 17—March 20, 2020

Arts Incubator Gallery, 301 E Garfield Blvd., Chicago, IL 60637

Gallery Hours: 12-6pm, Wed-Fri

| Free and open to the public

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2020 marks 50 years since children living in the Harold Ickes Homes sat for portraits that were used as visual aides in Chicago classrooms and libraries. Inspired by those portraits taken in 1970, Jeyifous has photographed the children of the “Black ABCs” today as adults, celebrating the beauty and historic impact that those images and individuals still hold. Expanding on the definition of portraiture, Jeyifous blurs his practice as a photographer and scientist by creating rare digital art works. The collages, a combination of overlaid visualizations, includes the individuals’ cells combined with traditionally styled portraits. This blend of artistic, medical, and clinical styles of portraiture raises questions and critiques about the complicated and often problematic history of science, medicine and Black subjectivity.

Presented by Arts + Public Life, an initiative of UChicago Arts, with generous sponsorship from the Arts, Science & Culture Initiative and Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture.
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• View images from the January 17, 2020 opening reception.
• Learn more and view exhibition related programming.