His project struck us as a profound and sincere search for an understanding of the self, through the artistic lens of an individual who never forgets his role as a teacher, and who therefore foresees the multiplying effect of his experience. Cyrus’ BMW Art Journey will expand and amplify a practice that has already brought much to the conversation around culture, history, and identity in the United States.
Jamal Cyrus is named winner of the next BMW Art Journey to be the Afro-Atlantic notion, which in the artist’s own words, is ““an intercontinental and multinational geography describing the circulation of ideas between Africa, Europe, and the Americas.”
Inspired in part by Paul Gilroy’s writings from the early 1990s, Cyrus plans to visit cultural centers such as the Elmina Castle in Accra, Ghana; the Theatre Champs-Elysees, in Paris, France; Brixton’s Electric Avenue, in, London, England; the Alhambra in Granada, Spain; and Congo Square, in New Orleans, United States.
At each location, Cyrus will record interviews with artists, musicians, historians, and philosophers who engage with the creative traditions of the Afro-Atlantic. “The journey promises to be a transformational process involving travel, dialogue, collective imagination, and intuitive response that will allow new ideas to surface in my work”, said Cyrus.
Art Basel and BMW will collaborate with the artist to document the journey and share it with a broader public through print publications, online and social media.
The five-member jury stated after its unanimous decision, “His journey combines elements of directed research and open-ended discovery, all within a deeply considered theoretical framework. His project struck us as a profound and sincere search for an understanding of the self, through the artistic lens of an individual who never forgets his role as a teacher, and who therefore foresees the multiplying effect of his experience. Cyrus’ BMW Art Journey will expand and amplify a practice that has already brought much to the conversation around culture, history, and identity in the United States.”
Title image: Artist Jamal Cyrus, left, speaks with Skidmore College students Rachel Rosenfeld ’18 and Ariel Saloman ’19 about his work in the exhibition “Other Side: Art, Object, Self”, at the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, November 3, 2017. Photo: Tang Teaching Museum. (03/2018)
