Jaamil Olawale Kosoko

Chameleon (A Visual Album) explores the idea of the artist as someone who shape-shifts in order to survive in the world—not only in response to the environment, but also in response to the past, their inner selves, and imaginations of the future. Kosoko’s American Chameleon podcast began as a way to capture and archive the critical (but often invisible) conversations Kosoko was already having with fellow Black/POC artists, scholars, and activists during the development of both tonight’s film and his newest performance work, also titled American Chameleon. Tonight's event—featuring Dionne Custer Edwards, director of the Wexner Center's Department of Learning and Public Practice; Dr. Nadine George-Graves, chair of Ohio State's Department of Dance; and Alexis McCrimmon, the Wexner Center's Film/Video Studio Editor—continues those conversations.

Together with Kosoko, a 2020–21 Wexner Center Artist Residency Award recipient, we’ll explore how the subjects mentioned above exemplify the chameleonic figure who moves between cultures, mediums, and projected identities. Conversations between the artist and friends, interwoven with his reading excerpts of key texts as well as experimenting with video art, allow us to dive into the rich complexities of grief, the ways in which identity forms or emerges out of one’s creative practice, and how history, politics, and personal narratives shape the work that contemporary artist-citizens create.

If you're joining us for the watch party, we encourage you to wear a costume or something fun!

Please note: tonight’s film contains mature content.