KHARIS KENNEDY: TESTIFY

A Destination Exhibition in St. John, US Virgin Islands

May 21 - July 21, 2021

TESTIFY is a destination exhibition of work by Kharis Kennedy, which transports viewers to the island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands where the artist lives and works. This installation of Kennedy’s mixed-media works examines how the destructive forces that render bodily, psychological, and geographic topographies vulnerable and damaged may also be catalysts for revelation, reconstruction, transformation, and empowerment. Kennedy’s artworks are installed across two sites: a modern home devastated by the recent sister hurricanes Irma and Maria and a historic structure that lies in ruins from the passage of time and relentless forces of nature prevalent on St. John and throughout the islands, which are historically places of resistance, destruction, and rebirth. Through inviting us to witness the multifaceted dialogue between the specific island topography and her artwork Kennedy has provided the means to explore the universal experience of how in parallel to our internal state, devastation and upset in our natural world forces us, collectively and individually, to adapt and persevere.

All installation photographs by William Stelzer, Courtesy of the Artist

Co-curated with Director Jenny Mushkin Goldman