Let There Be Darkness

Let There Be Darkness embraces darkness as a tactic of self-liberation from neocolonial conditions imposed on black Americans today. The body of work draws from Simone Bailey’s investigations of the impulse to grasp the intangible, as well as her focus on perception, process, ephemerality, desire, violence, and the impossible. The exhibition bridges past and present as a proposition for the future by exploring ways in which existing black American culture can provide useful tools and messages to apply to today’s concerns.‍

Simone Bailey works with video, performance, sculpture, and photography to explore themes related to violence, agency, and the impulse to grasp the intangible. Her work has been exhibited at Krowswork (Oakland, CA), Galeria Luis Adelantado (Valencia, Spain), Amory Center for the Arts (Pasadena, CA), the Studio Museum in Harlem (New York, NY), and CDA Projects (Istanbul), among other venues. She lives and works in San Francisco.

‍The opening reception and artist talk for Let There Be Darkness will be held in the MoAD Salon on December 8, 2017.

top: Simone Bailey, Hear (The Forest) (still), 2017. Video. Courtesy of the artist.

bottom: Simone Bailey, Untitled (Defense of Darkness Piece) (still), 2017. Video. Courtesy of the artist.