Pittsburgh artist Mikael Owunna responded to negative stereotypes and images of Black deaths depicted in media with an alternative vision of the Black body as “immortal and transcendent.”

His work, begun in 2016, resulted in a series of stylized photographs entitled, “Infinite Essence: Celestial Liberation,” which will be displayed on digital billboards and kiosks in 11 locations throughout Pittsburgh from Friday through June 30.

“I was responding to photos of the violent deaths of Michael Brown and George Floyd and others,” Owunna said. “I wanted to transform those negative images of Black bodies into cosmic vessels of eternal life.”

Owunna begins each photo session by hand-painting his models’ bodies with fluorescent paint. He drew on his engineering background to build a camera flash that only transmits ultraviolet light.

Working in total darkness, he clicks the shutter and the beam of ultraviolet light illuminates the fluorescent paint, transforming the bodies into transcendent, ethereal forms.

For the public art project, Owunna collaborated with New York City-based curator Larry Ossei-Mensah and Orange Barrel Media, a Columbus, Ohio-based media company also committed to “providing public benefit through a balance of art, community content and commercial messaging,” according to its website.

The exhibition is scheduled in tandem with the city of Pittsburgh’s first official celebration of Juneteenth, an annual holiday celebrating the emancipation of African Americans from slavery, and town hall conversations about police violence and the spiritual power of African cosmologies.

The role of diverse art

“We understand the important role diverse art plays in activating the imagination and driving critical change,” said Orange Barrel CEO Pete Scantland. “Partnering with Larry Ossei-Mensah to showcase the timely work of Mikael Owunna furthers our ongoing efforts to expand the reach of powerful art into public spaces through our media platform.”

“This (project) is an inflection point for a conversation about public art and how the Black body is perceived and understood,” Ossei-Mensah said. “It’s about reaching communities and artists, and creating access and a sense of belonging to a broader public, especially a Black and brown public.”

Courtesy of Mikael Owunna Images from artist Mikael Owunna’s "Infinite Essence: Celestial Liberation" project will appear on digital billboards and kiosks around Pittsburgh.  

Images from “Infinite Essence” will be projected at these locations:

• Orange Barrel Media digital billboards along Route 28 and Spin Bike stations throughout the city, Friday-June 30

• Pittsburgh International Airport, through Sept 24

• Silver Eye Center for Photography, through July 17

• University of Pittsburgh Center for Urban Education, Wednesday-Saturday

• Pittsburgh Glass Center, through Sept. 15

• Everyday Cafe, through Sept 15.

“From the minute you touch down at the airport, and as you move through the city, you’ll see these beautiful, ethereal bodies,” Ossei-Mensah said.

Based in Highland Park, Owunna is a queer Nigerian-Swedish-American artist and engineer whose work is in various museum collections and has been exhibited across Asia, Europe and North America. In February, he was named to the Silver List, presented by Silver Eye Center for Photography in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University and the Black List, comprising 47 artists from Pittsburgh and points beyond whose work deserves attention.

Owunna says the photographs in “Infinite Essence” also “explore a transformational vision of the Black body in relationship with West African spiritual systems, particularly Igbo and Dogon. Each image references myths and divine principles from both systems, connecting Black bodies of the present across space and time to ancestral African conceptions of the universe.”

Events scheduled in conjunction with the project include:

• Juneteenth Art Fair, “Art as Liberation: Celebrating Black Art in Pittsburgh,” 4-8 p.m. Friday at City of Asylum, 320 Sampsonia Way

• Juneteenth brunch and conversation with Owunna and Ossei-Mensah, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at Everyday Cafe, 532 N. Homewood Ave.

• Virtual Clubhouse conversation with Owunna and Ossei-Mensah, 7-8 p.m. Tuesday.

Details: mikaelowunna.com

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