In the early 1990s, Drexciya, a Detroit-based techno duo made up of James Stinson and Gerald Donald, imagined an underwater kingdom populated by the children of pregnant women who had been thrown overboard or jumped voluntarily into the ocean during the transatlantic slave trade.
Drexciya’s founding myth has inspired numerous artists, among them Ayana V. Jackson who, in this exhibition, brings to life an immersive, feminist, and sacred aquatopia where African water spirits from Senegal to South Africa both midwife and protect the Drexciyans. Jackson asks that we reckon with the brutal history that cast these beings to the sea while simultaneously envisioning a world of powerful, resilient women. By using her own body to convey her message, Jackson actively engages in what it might have meant to be among the estimated two million captives who never made it to shore. What do you imagine the Drexciyans see looking back at us?
About Ayana V. Jackson
Born in New Jersey (1977) with adopted family in Ghana, Ayana V. Jackson lives and works between Brooklyn, Johannesburg, and Paris. Her internationally exhibited and collected photography is recognized for the deftness with which she confronts the racialization and sexualization of Black bodies. This exhibition presents the artist’s first foray into video and animation, her first monographic museum exhibition, and the first presentation of her most recent body of work. In it, she departs from past practice in which she rented or wore historic costumes to interrogate photographic archives. For From the Deep, she worked with collaborators across the African continent to custom design each garment and create a speculative world.
Karen E. Milbourne, senior curator
Major funding for From the Deep: In the Wake of Drexciya with Ayana V. Jackson comes from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative with additional support generously provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. We are grateful to the Mariane Ibrahim Gallery for its commitment and generosity.
Exhibition checklist
All works are from the collection of the artist, courtesy Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, and were produced between 2018 and 2022. Unless otherwise noted, they are archival pigment prints on German Etching paper.
Content advisory
Please be advised the artwork includes nudity, and the scents used in the installation may contain allergens.
Video excerpts
“Take me to the Water: Baptism by Waters both Salty and Sweet”
2022
Computer-generated imaging using motion capture
Collaboration with Zwelakhe Mbalo, edited by Eran Tahor
Where Light and Sound Bend
2022
Computer-generated imaging using motion capture
Collaboration with Zwelakhe Mbalo, edited by Eran Tahor
Where Light and Sound Bend
2022
Computer-generated imaging using motion capture
Collaboration with Zwelakhe Mbalo, edited by Eran Tahor
Where Light and Sound Bend
2022
Computer-generated imaging using motion capture
Collaboration with Zwelakhe Mbalo, edited by Eran Tahor
