Join Red Bull Arts for the 24-Hour Opening of “Akeem Smith: No Gyal Can Test” beginning on Thursday, September 24 at 8:00PM. Doors will remain open until Friday, September 25 at 8:00PM to celebrate the first major solo show by artist Akeem Smith and the culmination of a project over a decade in the making.
Akeem Smith (b.1991, Brooklyn, New York) has spent over a decade sharing a
voice deeply shaped by his childhood experiences working with his family’s
fashion house, OUCH, which designed looks for prominent members of
Kingston’s dancehall community and did costuming for the films Dancehall
Queen (1997) and Belly (1998). As an artist and creative director, Smith has
been an influential, often under-the-radar collaborator with artists and brands
such as Deana Lawson, DIS, Helmut Lang, Hood by Air, K8 Hardy, Lizzie Fitch
and Ryan Trecartin, The Row, and Yeezy. No Gyal Can Test is his first solo
exhibition. In addition to the many people present in the archive, Smith has
collaborated on pieces with musicians Total Freedom and Physical Therapy,
sculptor Jessi Reaves, jewelry designer Brando, and fashion designer Grace
Wales Bonner.
Due to new health and safety protocols, the gallery is operating under limited capacity and reservations are required. Please RSVP here to reserve your time slot.
