OPENING RECEPTION: AZIKIWE MOHAMMED “TRAINS, BUSES, AND THE FOUR C’S”

Project for Empty Space will open its new exhibition space at Ironside Newark, 110 Edison Place, on Friday, October 11th, 2024, with the inaugural show Trains, Buses, and the Four C’s by Artist in Residence Azikiwe Mohammed. The exhibition runs from October 11th, 2024, to January 25th, 2025.

Now in its eighth cycle, the Artist in Residence Program brings four visual artists to Newark, NJ, annually to create socially impactful work. This initiative fosters a reciprocal relationship between artists and audiences, promoting new artistic practices and social interventions.

In Trains, Buses, and the Four C’s, Mohammed explores social bonds and experiences through mixed-media works, including drawings, paintings, photographs, and sculptures. These pieces evoke personal and shared memories, drawing from history painting traditions but reinterpreted with contemporary social narratives. Mohammed calls his paintings “new beginnings” to old stories, using layered washes of paint to transform everyday subjects, such as buses, trains, and food, into reflections of community, history, and cultural connection.

Mohammed’s vibrant color palette and composition style reflect his evolution as an artist, drawing on earlier series like Nya’s House (2019) and Places I’ve Been With Helicopters (2020). His work often centers food as a symbol of memory and community, while his chair-sculptures, made from salvaged wood, emphasize bodily reflection in history. The “Four C’s,” Mohammed’s personal guiding principles, represent the values of community and connection. His New Davonhaime Food Bank, in partnership with Project for Empty Space, provided food for over 200 Newark residents in June 2024, embodying these principles in action.