• Memory Dances

    Hampton Boyer

    Exhibiting for the first time at OMNI, is American visual artist, Hampton Boyer with his latest body of works titled, Memory Dances. Bringing together a suite of works, the self-taught artist takes this presentation through a creative evolution, defining his path as an artist as he creates an embellished view of the African American diaspora. This will be OMNI’s ninth exhibition at its location on Eastcastle Street, and will run from the 26th January to the 25th February, 2023.

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  • Debuting for the first time at OMNI, Memory Dances introduces a formal presentation of a deeply personal form of individual...

    Debuting for the first time at OMNI, Memory Dances introduces a formal presentation of a deeply personal form of individual documentation. Raised in the southeastern region of Virginia, works tow between his cultural heritage and the feeling of escapism to an imaginative state. Most works are referenced from his photo studies, whilst others derive directly from Boyer’s subconscious.

     

    Boyer navigates us through Memory Dances, using his singular visual style to confront the past and present with the legacy of African American historical landscape - particularly his home state of Virginia where slavery first arrived. Consisting of mainly large-scale works, the layering of bright colours and geometric forms superimpose the canvas making his work bold, graphic, and physically arresting. Executing his works to this dramatic effect, Memory Dances are presented accessible yet hold tensions that invite deep contemplation. The overwhelming energy incites a kaleidoscopic world, coloured in both pain, pride and beauty, all pieced together by clues of his existence, while expressing his interpretation of history and experience. 

  • Memory Dances is the first body of paintings that Boyer has created while living and working in Richmond, Virginia. Inspired by his curiosity of placement, he continues to embark on new works, focusing on the Black body and the space in which it occupies. 

     

    Hampton Boyer’s dynamic compositions tell intimate and spiritual stories, drawing on the Black American experience and negro-spiritual songs and symbols. As of recent, he has also collaborated with Musician Matthew E. White in a short-film, 'Only In America', that adeptly explores police brutality, white supremacy and systematic racism in the USA. Boyer continues to create sustained bodies of works that revere an inheritable amount of pride that comes with being part of the close and wider black community.