MoAD’s physical building may be closed due to the mandatory shelter-in-place, but you can still get your fill of art and artists of the African Diaspora. Each Wednesday at 1:00 pm PST, join MoAD staff members as we visit some of our favorite artists in their studios to see what they’re currently working on and how their work is changing as a result of the quarantine. This is a rare opportunity to hear from artists directly from their studios.

We will follow all talks with an audience Q&A.

5/5 (fivefifths) is a multimedia collective co-founded by Tania Balan-Gaubert, Troy Chew, and Nkiruka Oparah during their MFA at California College of the Arts. 5/5 is dedicated to exploring Black(ness) as an idea, consciousness, reference, and embodied experience through space, language, and visual culture.

Balan-Gaubert uses photography, found and ready-made objects, assemblage, and video combined with personal stories, spirituality and lore to examine race, transnational identity, culture, and belonging. Chew's work explores the African Diaspora within the urban culture through painting and sculpture, while also questioning the definitions of “Fine art” and “Folk Art.” Through drawing, collage, video, assemblage, and performance, Oparah builds multimedia portraits and ephemeral forms from familial and cultural images, found objects, and repurposed materials to investigate memory, otherness, and the multiplicity of identities within them.

5/5 organizes exhibitions according to five pillars known only to its founding members. Each project is curated based on the space, ritual, intuition, and current research.

‍See a list of our upcoming In The Artists Studio features here.

Generous support for this project provided by Art Bridges and the Westridge Foundation

This series is supported by the Facebook Art Department, UNTITLED, Art Fairs and The Art Report.