Visual artist, Shikeith, partners with The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments to produce Somewhere Over The_,– a solo show shedding light on both structural and cultural inequalities that have formulated barriers over the psychological perception of the Black man, Somewhere Over The __ is created in residence with Bunker Projects including photography, video, sculpture and installation.

“It explores the often traumatic emotional experience related to being perceived, and classified as an African-American male,” says Shikeith.”I had been working for a few weeks before I learned the space was formerly a tavern in which African American’s were not allowed. All I could do was thank the universe for allowing me to place these works in front of a regressive energy that still resided in the area.”

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Shikeith states when he first arrived in Pittsburgh–he was made aware of the racism in the city during a car service trip in which the driver, a white male, used the n-word.

A Philadelphia native, Shikeith’s work focuses on the psycho-dynamic perspectives, and emotionality of contemporary black men as a result of historically, socially constructed phenomenons.

In tandem with questions he asks himself regularly, Shikeith says the exhibit hopes to inspire the answers to questions about modern perceptions of race: When will images of a black male not inflict the qualia of fear? How have those socially constructed images affected how black men behave, interact and express themselves? Why do I often fear innocent black men as well?

Bunker Projects
5106 Penn Ave,
Pittsburgh, PA 15224

www.shikeith.com
www.bunkerprojects.org