Imagenation presents
A Home Away from Home:
Artworks by Samson Mnisi + Cannon Hersey
1999-2010
Artist Reception:
September 12th, 7-10pm
live music by Graham Haynes +
Art Talk at 9pm by Cannon Hersey
@
Imagenation’s RAW SPACE
2031 Adam Clayton Powell, jr. blvd. (7th Avenue)
between 121 + 122 street
Harlem, NYC
a taste of the exhibition as created by Harlem News journalist Peter Cooper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GBj6TRC9iU&feature=share&list=UUBsdyNOz7xHUypBXMfOjQwg
curated by Vaughn Bergen + Justin Pettress
Open Hours
August 11th- September 15th, Tuesday-Sunday, 2-8pm
In celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the African National Congress, Imagenation presents “A Home Away from Home,” artworks by Samson Mnisi and Cannon Hersey. This exhibition explores African spiritualism and global citizenship.
Having organized projects in partnership with Imagenation since 2002, Hersey and Mnisi have a special place in their heart for the work of the organization and will donate 30 to 50% of sale’s price to the organization. Our aim is to raise enough money for Imagenation to renovate the Imagenation Raw Space into the Imagenation Soul CInema.
Cannon Hersey will present his work at Lincoln Center’s Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery as a part of Imagenation’s upcoming program “Celebrate Brazil” on December 6th.
Artists’ Bio
Renowned for organizing large scale cultural efforts in New York City, Sao Paolo and Johannesburg, many of Cannon Hersey + Samson Mnisi’s largest exhibitions have been held in non traditional art spaces outside of the gallery and museum world that maximize the interaction between art and the public. Locations for cultural programing have included Time Square, Rockefeller Center + Downtown Brooklyn in NYC, Chacara Flora + Jardins in Sao Paolo and the Newton Cultural Precinct, Soweto + Yeoville in Johannesburg.
Samson Mnisi was a politically and socially active figure in the ANC during the apartheid era. Mnisi emerged in the post apartheid regime as a cultural organizer, artist and activist. Cannon Hersey is an artist, cultural organizer, social activist and educator.
This creative team has exhibited at the Johannesburg Art Foundation in 1996, 1999 + 2000, Lincoln Center in 2002, NYU in 2002, Austin Museum of Art in 2000 and 2010, Earth Pledge Foundation in 2004, the opening event of the Sao Paolo Bienale in 2008 and MOCADA in 2009, to name a few. Works by the artists are in the collection of Yale University, Vassar College, FUBA, BMW, Marylin Oshman, Durst family, Quercia family, Joachim Esteve II + III, Vodacom, Rand Merchant Bank and more.
Within the last year and a half, Mr. Hersey organized a music event at last year’s SummerGarden program for the Museum of Modern Art, archived the life in letters of Budd Schulberg for Dartmouth University, worked as a producer + researcher for an NHK (Japanese Public Access TV) program entitled “Energy Revolution,” directed a digital role model program for LACOE (Los Angeles County Office of Education) and held solo exhibitions at the Open Center, Gregory Clark Fine Art, Rabbithole Gallery and various group shows including a large window installation across from the gates of Howard University in Washington DC as part of an exhibition, lecture series and education program entitled “In Our Hood.”
Mnisi launches a solo exhibition entitled “Word” along with the release of a new book on his work in Johannesburg on September 11th, 2012. In 2011, he had a solo show at the University of Johannesburg entitled “White City
Mnisi + Hersey, along with media personality Zanele Mazibuko, are co-founders of Blackage Media, an independent media communications company based in Johannesburg, South Africa that produces, markets and distributes South African culture to the South African, African and international markets.
Cannon Hersey conceived and founded CrossPathCulture (CPC) in 1999, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting global community building through the arts. As Directors of CPC in the US and South Africa, Mnisi + Hersey organized and produced more than 50 exhibitions, festivals and educational programs in conjunction with other non-profit organizations, including the Museum of Modern Art, PS1, African Film Festival/New York, the Johannesburg Metropolitan City Council, Imagenation and the Market Theater, South Africa.
