Promoting and strengthening the artistic and cultural development of Orange County, North Carolina
This 2nd Friday of December, come up the Graham Street fire escape (with masks on) & join us for a Mystery Meat movie on the roof and (in small groupings, one way flow-> exit out franklin street)
Slug Space and My Room together presenting:
We Can Help Each Other Be Brave
Jon Copes
Exhibition Statement: We Can Help Each Other Be Brave (2020) is a collection of portraits and film by Jon Copes. The work in this collection uses movement and archival footage to reflect on the powerful revolutionary action in Raleigh during the 2020 uprisings. The portraits are shot on 35mm and capture dancers Savannah Jade Dobbs and Jenaye Gaudreau in motion. Their movements are largely improvisational with gestural phrase motifs that explore thoughts of separation, community, and mutual aid. The video footage combines news archive with dance to show that love and abolition are powerful and dynamic acts of bravery. This collection invites the viewer to consider the power within their own community, and to imagine and start building a future free of prisons and policing.
The photos exhibited were taken in the process of producing an experimental documentary as part of the Resisting Narratives of Erasure series. This series features the work of 9 filmmakers in the South documenting stories of community and justice, and was sponsored by the Visionary Justice Storylab.
Artist Bio: Jon Copes is an intermedia artist based in Raleigh, NC. Jon is interested in sharing his point of view as a weird, black, Gen-Z creator in the South. His work explores themes of love, loneliness, identity, and connection in the internet age. He strives to find beauty in simplicity and redefine artistry and “making” in a digital era.
Jon is a current fellow with the Visionary Justice Storylab. His work has been selected to screen at the NCSU Student Moving Image showcase and published in the publications Platform and Windhover. When he’s not working on a project Jon loves to DJ, order takeout in bed, and Be Online.
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