A Study of the Supernatural Phenomena of Emergence  

In 1866, three miles north of Mobile, Alabama, a wormhole was opened with a spade.

Atlanta based emerging artist Y. Malik Jalal will mount his first solo exhibition, A Study of the Supernatural Phenomena of Emergence, this fall at Alabama Contemporary, curated by elizabet elliott. Jalal was born in Savannah, GA, and raised in the Atlanta suburbs. He paints and makes images and objects. His work is equally personal and fictitious, rooted in both the artist’s own identity and his relationship to the collective cultural identity and history of the African diaspora in the American South. 

Jalal’s exhibition intends to explore the aesthetic tradition of Black Radicalism utilizing history and ephemera from Mobile’s own Africatown and the broader context of port cities in the South. Using found materials from his trips to Mobile, the exhibition will include paintings, assemblages, and sculptural pieces that examine the area’s difficult racial history. Jalal’s metalworking vocation, found architecture, and memorabilia surrounding Alabama natives Cleon Jones and Tommie Agee’s role in the 1969 World Series will all feature as part of the show.  Jalal received his BA in Studio Art from Oglethorpe University in 2016. Since then, Jalal’s work has been included in a number of group exhibitions including The Gallery by Wish, Atlanta Contemporary. In 2017 he was selected to create a public sculpture for Atlanta: Art on the Beltline. 

OPENING RECEPTION: NOVEMBER 8, 2019 @ 6PM

Generous funding for this exhibition and related programming is provided by: