Now Ain’t Some Day Yet & Quiet As Kept

Root Division is excited to present the culminating project of Root Division’s 2022-2023 Bay Area Black Artist Fellow, jamil nasim. The project takes the form of two coinciding exhibitions; Now Ain’t Some Day Yet, and Quiet As Kept.

Now Ain’t Some Day Yet considers the relationship between the Great Migration and Black life in the present-day Bay Area. In collaboration with the Dr. George W. Davis Senior Center and Black Bay Area artists, the exhibition seeks to give prominence to the hidden histories woven within Black migration patterns across the Bay Area. Between 1940 and 1970, over 300,000 Black people migrated from the American South to the Bay Area, embracing the unknown, seeking to establish social and economic mobility on alien soil. Through a variety of mediums including photography, video, painting, sculpture, assemblage, textiles, and new media, the exhibition brings together a diverse range of perspectives and voices to create a rich and complex portrait of the Great Migration and its ongoing impact on Black life in the Bay Area. Complementing Now Ain’t Some Day Yet will be a coinciding solo show of nasim’s work, titled Quiet As Kept.

Quiet As Kept offers a haunting and fantastical portrait of Black life in the American South. Through painting, assemblage sculpture, sound, and moving image, nasim crafts a rich and layered environment that is both familiar and otherworldly. The exhibition challenges the stereotypical representations of Black life in the South. Rather than focusing on the traumatic histories of this region, nasim offers an alternative view which highlights the beauty and complexity of mundane, everyday experiences in Black southern life.

At the heart of nasim’s work is a deep engagement with the everyday lives of Black people living in the South. By drawing from a variety of sources, including archival photos, genealogical research of their family’s lineage, pop culture, Black folk art, and interviews with seniors from the Dr. George W Davis Senior Center, nasim invites viewers to question their perceptions and biases towards the American South and to recognize the importance of representation in shaping cultural narratives. This exhibition is dedicated to Linda Nichols, Cora Jackson, and James Jackson.

Now Ain’t Some Day Yet, and Quiet As Kept are the culminating project from the 2022-23 Bay Area Black Artist Studio Fellowship. The fellowship provides free studio workspace and a monetary stipend to an emerging artist in exchange for being an integral part of Root Division’s Studios Program. In large part, the commitment involves a service project that aligns and enhances Root Division’s mission to empower artists, foster community service, inspire youth, and enrich the Bay Area through engagement in the visual arts.

Second Saturday opening reception: June 10, 2023, 7-9pm