Yrneh Gabon 

Time will Tell, 2020
A site specific installation with a mixed body of works bringing awareness to social activism through the world and over the years to current

Road to Justice, 2020. Black, Brown and Yellow Masking Flats, 2019. Red Masking Flats, 2019. First Man, 2008. If we must die, 2011. Sistah Girl, 2020. I Look to you, 2020. Ghost Tree, 2011.

Live excerpts from A GARDEN OF THORNS (2016-ongoing)
Saturday and Sunday at 3pm

Performance and conversation on Sunday@ 3-4pm with Marie Vickles, director of Education at the Pe’rez Art Museum Miami and independent curator currently serving as the Curator-in-Residence at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex. Instagram live @yrnehgabon

Artist Statement
“TIME WILL TELL” Bob Marley; This installation is a collection of different bodies of works addressing social activism, using the arts over the years.  In this period of Covide-19 and the coronavirus outbreak globally, this is such a great time to create and to reflect while looking for answers in an ocean of fear. 

Time is the only thing that hasn’t been affected and will ultimately determine the survival of the fittest. The Singer Nina Simone once said; “You can’t help it”. An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned,is to reflect the times.” I am committed to an artistic practice that is engaging and is of the times.  I see myself as a conduit; I came from a culture where the community matters and we are our brothers and sisters’, keepers. There’s a strength, oneness, longevity in social art practice. Art can be activated and function to construct and deconstructs just about anything.  I use my art to agitate the viewer and unmasking the reality through objects making, research or performance base art.

Social distancing is the new norm and a word that has evolved from the Covid-19 era, we are in lock down and using this time to reflect in ways that forces me to examine and re-examine my earlier practice to deal with some of the same social issues, with the hopes of getting my message across.

This allows me observe and revisit my past and present works, all of which decry injustice within the society. I want to use this opportunity to share works from different parts of my journey, all of which marked moments in time that speaks to social activism, public awareness, change and empowerment. 

Yrneh Gabon
Time will Tell, 2020
A site specific installation with a mixed body of works bringing awareness to social activism through the world and over the years to current

Road to Justice, 2020. Black, Brown and Yellow Masking Flats, 2019. Red Masking Flats, 2019. First Man, 2008. If we must die, 2011. Sistah Girl, 2020. I Look to you, 2020. Ghost Tree, 2011.

Live excerpts from A GARDEN OF THORNS (2016-ongoing)
Saturday and Sunday at 3pm

Biography
Yrneh Gabon is a Jamaican-born multi-disciplinary and performance artist based in Los Angeles. Having studied at (USC) University of Southern California and Otis College of Arts and design, Gabon seeks to balance artistic representation with social activism and social commentary particularly regarding issues pertinent to Africa and its Diasporas. 

His work creates new narratives and extends dialogue between Africa and its Diasporas both in Western countries and the developing world. This was embodied by the seminal 2014 series Visibly Invisible; Albinism in Tanzania, Jamaica and the USAthrough the eyes of Yrneh Gabon Brown.”

His work focused on the plight of people living with Albinism, particularly in East Africa, and was instrumental in supporting of the passing of United Nation, Human Rights Council declaration calling for the prevention of attacks and discrimination against people with albinism around the world. Visibly Invisible resulted in a solo exhibition at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles in 2014. In 2017, Yrneh created the work Roots and Symbols, which explored the invisibility of people of African heritage in Mexico, during a summer residency at the Fundación Sebastián in Mexico City, Mexico. Also, in 2017 Gabon focused on both the California drought and wildfires and its relation to both the social and ecological climate change creating a full installation work entitled “Memba Mi Tell Yu/Listen Up Take Note.” 

His newest series Pink King and Queen of Salt was inspired by recent travels to Lac Rose in Senegal; this collection explores the intersection of salt as a commodity in Africa and the US, and the impacts of climate change.

Gabon has shown nationally in New York and California and internationally in Vancouver, Canada, Darkar, Senegal West Africa and Jamaica, West Indies. In December 2018, Yrneh Gabon had the distinct honor and privilege to be one of the featured international artists at the Musée des Civilizations Noires inaugural exhibition in Dakar, Senegal. A true artist in heart and soul, Gabon has been in the arts and entertainment for over 35 years and has worked as a poet, actor/singer, director, producer, playwright, special effects make-up artist, and creative artistic director.  In 2020 Gabon selected by the Dakart Biennale committee to be featured in Dakart Biennale 2020 exhibition in Dakar, Senegal.