Watene Ah Um

Yonel Watene

Opening 01.08.18 6-8pm
Artist Talks 23.08.18 6-7pm

Watene Ah Um is a 2-part exhibition featuring new paintings, sculpture, photography, video work and installation by Yonel Watene. Watene Ah Um is segmented into 2-parts , Ah and Um . Ah explores ideas rooted in Modernity (mainly the lifestyle of the consummate draftsman), and will include an oil painting, photograph and various minimal sculpture. Um discusses traditions born in the late-40’s (mainly to do with Abstract Expressionism), and will feature new paintings on denim and Watene’s inaugural video work. Firstdraft’s Gallery 1 is divided to accommodate this segmentation. Fabric is draped from wall-to-wall as a divider, splitting the gallery in two. The exhibition is named after Charles Mingus’ studio album Mingus Ah Um (1959). Inspired by the shows namesake, that’s touted as “a tribute to ancestors”, Watene Ah Um sets out with similar goals of tributing ancestors, namely art historic figures and movements throughout Modernity and beyond. Like Mingus, Watene wants to discuss time as a timeless, singular entity - not a series of dated events. This school of thought plays into ideas of a timeless cool, and that quality is constant throughout time. The shows title uses the combination of two expressions, ah and um. For this reason, the exhibition examines the versatility of common expressions, and how they’re used to express emotion beyond linguistic languages. The versatility of common expressions also attribute ideas around ‘freedom of expression’, which is a cornerstone of creative freedom. Through creative expression, an artist or a musician can talk to an audience’s emotions by solely relying on visual languages and sound (and at it’s rawest form, without written words or vocal lyrics ). With Ah Um, Watene wants to encourage the audience to read an emotive visual language that’s beyond pure linguistics and human rationality, despite (or alongside) the shows historical connotations. These ideas attest to the commonality between art and music, or in this instance, the commonality between Mingus Ah Um and Watene Ah Um, despite the stark differences between art, music and their respective practitioners - they’re totally different worlds, but expression is constant and forever, no matter how you do it.

Read the full exhibition essay here.